McLaren driver Lando Norris walked back his post-race comments at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Tension can boil over in the media pen after a Formula 1 race.
Last Saturday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix was no exception.
Speaking to the media after a frustrating race that saw him slide down the pecking order, and eventually fail to finish after a three-car accident on a restart, Lando Norris blasted drivers that “should not be in Formula 1.” The comment was viewed as one directed at Franco Colapinto, who caused the accident in question when he dove to the inside at Turn 1 but could not make the move stick on the cold tires, sliding into teammate Pierre Gasly who then slid into Norris, taking all three out of the race.
Norris went even further, calling for a one-race ban for such incidents.
While Colapinto apologized for the incident, Norris did not hold back in his immediate comments in the media pen. That sparked another wave of pushback on social media, prompting a team statement from Alpine:
On Monday, Norris was next to take to social media, sharing his apology to Colapinto for his post-race comments on Instagram:
“After the race, I sent Franco a message apologising for the comments I made that I simply should not have said. I know better and emotions were running high, but that is not an excuse, it was wrong of me,” began the statement in part.
“I’ve made mistakes of my own over the years and I know this is very much a part of racing and fighting on the limit.
“Me and Franco came to a good understanding, are still good friends and are both excited to get back racing this weekend.”
Norris, Colapinto, and the rest of the grid will get to do that this weekend, with the second race of an F1 tripleheader. The grid heads to the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, hosted at the Sepang International Circuit after the Bahrain Grand Prix was canceled due to ongoing hostilities in the Middle East.