No driver likes penalties, and the F1 community gets irked when unjust ones are handed out, which has been plentiful in 2024. Last week in Qatar, for instance, the FIA issued two controversial punishments—to Max Verstappen and Lando Norris—which prompted experts to defend the drivers.
Many deemed Verstappen’s one-place grid drop for ‘slow driving’ unnecessary. But it was Norris’ 10-second-stop and go which was arguably more baffling because of how severe it was. The McLaren driver was found guilty of now slowing down under yellow flags, something he claimed he didn’t see.
Karun Chandhok did not argue with the FIA’s decision to penalize Norris. However, he questioned the extent of it on the recent episode of Sky Sports F1 podcast. “It’s in the rules, don’t slow down for double-waved yellows, it is a 10-second stop-go, which is very, very harsh,” the former F1 driver said.
Chandhok added that although the stewards were simply following the rulebook, they might need to review it and consider the option of issuing lighter penalties for similar incidents in the future.
Do yellow flag rules need to be reviewed after the Qatar GP controversy? pic.twitter.com/OTB4cA6JqK
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) December 4, 2024
Norris, who was running in P2, dropped down to the last position because of his penalty and despite his best efforts, could only make up enough places to finish the race in P10.
It put a question mark on McLaren’s quest to win the Constructors’ Championship as Norris lost a huge chunk of points. Before the race began, the Woking-based squad had a 30-point lead over Ferrari. Afterward, it got trimmed down to just 21.
Norris’ past disagreement with the FIA
What happened in Qatar was just one incident in a season filled with stewarding inconsistencies. At the United States GP in October, Norris found himself in hot water with officials due to their decision not to penalize Verstappen, who had pushed Norris off the track. Instead, Norris was the one penalized.
When Norris left the track and overtook Verstappen, the stewards deemed that the Briton had gained an advantage and decided to penalize him. Understandably, the McLaren camp was unhappy with the decision.
“Those are the rules. They seem to change, because it seems like it’s quite inconsistent from say what happened in Austria, where Max didn’t get a penalty and went off the track, and gained an advantage. There’s again inconsistency,” Norris had said.
It wasn’t just the Bristol-born driver who was frustrated. Even Lewis Hamilton—who knows a thing or two about battling with Verstappen—chimed in. “It’s interesting people are talking about it now because it’s the same thing that happened to me in 2021,” the seven-time World Champion said, reminding everyone how the Red Bull driver had pushed him off the track intentionally. That day, Verstappen did get a 10-second time penalty.
Since inconsistencies in the stewards’ decision-making have been a recurring theme, several experts have argued for having the same officials for every race weekend. However, with a record 24 races on the F1 calendar now, the FIA feels the need to rotate their stewards from one race weekend to another.
