LANDO NORRIS' PENALTY

Lando Norris was fighting for a win at the Qatar Grand Prix, chasing Max Verstappen for the lead, when a penalty ruined his chances. He was punished for not slowing down under double yellow flags at Turn 1 after Alex Albon’s mirror fell onto the track.

The stewards gave Norris a 10-second stop-and-go penalty, one of the harshest penalties in Formula 1, which ended his hopes of victory.

The timing of the penalty made things even worse. It came right after a safety car restart when all the cars were close together, dropping Norris to the back of the 15 cars still in the race. Despite this, he fought hard and managed to finish in 10th place, scoring a single point.

There was also controversy over how the situation was handled. Race director Rui Marquez, in only his second F1 race, chose not to use a virtual safety car or full safety car to remove the debris with some arguing this would have been safer and fairer.

On top of that, the severity of Norris’ penalty caused debate. Mercedes’ team principal Toto Wolff called it "brutal," while McLaren’s Andrea Stella believes it was deserved.

The FIA defended the penalty, saying it followed the rules.

“The penalty was in accordance with the penalty guidelines circulated to the teams on 19 February 2024.

“A double yellow flag infringement is considered a serious compromise of safety, which is why such offences carry such a severe penalty.”

LOST MIRROR DRAMA

Lando Norris’ penalty for ignoring yellow flags was just a small part of a bigger issue involving Alex Albon’s lost mirror.

The drama began on lap 30 when Albon’s right mirror fell off his Williams and landed in the middle of the start-finish straight. As a result, double yellow flags, which Norris failed to recognise, were waved to warn drivers, but the FIA chose not to stop the race or clear the debris right away.

The mirror stayed on the track for several laps, creating a clear risk. Eventually, Valtteri Bottas ran over it while moving aside for the leaders. This broke the mirror into smaller pieces and spread debris across the track, making the situation even more dangerous. Soon after, both Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton suffered punctures, likely caused by the debris.

Only after these incidents did the FIA call out a full safety car to clean up the track. By then, the damage was already done, with multiple drivers’ races affected, with many saying that the safety car should have been deployed much earlier to avoid these problems.

However, the FIA again defended its actions, explaining the situation in a statement, which said as follows:

“Normal practice is for the safety car not to be deployed if there is a small amount of debris, and off the racing line.

“The extensive debris after a car hit the mirror and the punctures that occurred shortly after forced the decision on a safety car.

“A VSC would not have been a solution, as the cars remain spread-out and there is not sufficient time for a marshal to clear the debris.

“The FIA constantly reviews its methods and processes and will analyse further the specific scenario, and discuss it with the teams, in order to see whether in the future a different course of action needs to be taken.”

SAFETY CAR LIGHTS FAILURE

The mirror problem wasn’t the only trouble for the FIA as there was more confusion when the safety car lights stopped working during the restart following the incident.

This caused Max Verstappen, who was leading the race, to get confused about what was happening. The restart happened very late, leaving Verstappen open to an attack from Lando Norris, who was right behind him (Norris’ penalty was issued a bit later).

“All teams were verbally advised that the SC would be coming in, so the restart took place in the normal fashion.

“While the reason for the malfunction was identified and fixed, out of caution, the safety car was swapped in time for its third deployment.”