Lando Norris has been left fuming after being taken out in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and called for Argentine driver Franco Colapinto to be banned.
The world champion was running in eighth place when Colapinto crashed into his teammate Pierre Gasly after a safety car restart.
An out-of-control Gasly slammed into Norris' McLaren, taking him out of the race and missing out on crucial points.
The British driver has issued a fierce statement to Colapinto, saying: "If you cause a crash on a restart like this, you should have at least a one-race ban.
"I just got taken out. And the FIA should be stricter by starting to hand out bans for this kind of stuff.
"It is just careless. It costs a lot of money; all my parts are in the bin now. It is not driving that deserves to be in Formula One.
"In Formula One, you would expect that drivers can anticipate that the grip will be low and tyre temperatures are low.
"You want to be against the best drivers, and when stuff like this happens it is because, yeah, they shouldn't be there."
LATEST SPORTS NEWS
- Manchester City chairman issues statement after club found guilty of 114 Premier League charges
- Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua thrown into chaos after Gypsy King claims rival 'pulling out' of fight
- George Russell reacts to pole position at Azerbaijan GP after Kimi Antonelli dealt championship blow
Colapinto held his hands up for the accident, describing the incident as a "big mistake".
George Russell won the Grand Prix, closing the gap to his teammate Kimi Antonelli in the Drivers' Championship, with the Italian finishing in fifth.
Russell offered a more conservative approach to Colapinto's crash, saying a ban for the Argentine would be "too harsh".
He said: "Safety car restarts, cold tyres, and a very small mistake can have very big consequences, and that's what happened today.
"Race bans should come from drivers intentionally doing something very dangerous and reckless."
Gasly, who was caught up in the crash with his teammate, brushed off any tension between the pair but noted some frustration after having a strong car for the race.
"We did a very good weekend, and it was one of the best race cars we've had this season, and the pace was great, keeping up with Lewis [Hamilton] and Lando for most of the race, and we had a 14 or 15-second gap to the midfield.
"So I think a lot of positives to take away, but I'm still struggling to process the outcome and the fact we had both cars in the points and in the end we got outscored by Racing Bulls by a lot of points," he told Sky Sports.
The Frenchman added: "Not an ideal day, but I'm sure we are going to move on from it. Unfortunately we have lost out today, hopefully we can make it up to the end of the year."
When asked if he was confident he and Colapinto could continue to work together well, Gasly said: "It's all about respect.
"As long as there is respect, everything is possible."
Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter
from GB News https://ift.tt/4p5UdRy
via IFTTT
Thank you for your message!