The 2023 Singapore Grand Prix was inarguably one of the most frustrating weekends for several Formula 1 drivers as they fell prey to impeding during the qualifying session. But, quite interestingly, that wasn’t it! What triggered many was the lack of inconsistency from the FIA after the stewards refused to punish Max Verstappen for not one, but, three different incidents.
The Dutchman was let off with a warning in one case, gained a free pass with another case featuring AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, and finally managed to escape detailed investigation after holding drivers up in the pit lane for unknown yet mildly suspicious reasons. Hence, this led a majority of the rivals to question the FIA’s biased ruling regarding the two-time world champion.
“I don’t understand why he didn’t get three places for the Tsunoda one” 💬
Bernie Collins and Karun Chandhok discuss why Max Verstappen didn’t receive a penalty after being investigated for impeding three times in qualifying 🔍 pic.twitter.com/OxrQWdzc8V
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) September 17, 2023
Following the Singapore Grand Prix, Aston Martin’s team principal Mike Krack publicly demanded consistency from the FIA after letting Verstappen get away with the evident mistakes on Saturday evening around the streets of Marina Bay. While that was directed at the governing body itself, Lando Norris has now earned the courage to fire shots at Verstappen itself for being the root cause of the problem.
Norris had a message for drivers including Verstappen who were caught impeding last weekend in Singapore. The Briton opined that such drivers on cool-down laps have pretty much nothing to do other than staying out of the path of cars on flying laps. Therefore, the McLaren driver urged Verstappen and others to use the mirror and avoid a repeat of Singapore 2023 in the future.
Lando Norris slams Max Verstappen after causing one too many incidents in Singapore
Norris absolutely tore Verstappen and his team apart for causing unwanted obstructions to other teams in Singapore and getting away with it unscathed. “I don’t want to say too much, ’cause I’ll just create controversy, but I think the blocking one on track was the one that should’ve been a penalty. He blocked someone. It’s not just down to the team,” he said ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.
Lando on the impeding in Singapore:
“I don’t want to say too much, ’cause I’ll just create controversy, but I think the blocking one on track was the one that should’ve been a penalty.
He blocked someone. It’s not just down to the team. I know the team got the fine at the end…
— Tam ⁴ 🇿🇦 (@F1Tami) September 21, 2023
“I know the team got the fine at the end of the day, but it should be down to the driver as well to look in his mirrors. You’ve got nothing else to do the whole lap but look in your mirrors. And it seems like a lot of people struggle to do that. I think it should just be harsher penalties for blocking people because so many people do it. It ruins your lap, ruins your qualifying.
“It put Yuki out in qualifying and he was P1 in Q1. No one seems to care enough and it’s happened a lot this season, happened to me quite a few times, especially with certain teams, but it’s also down to the driver to look in the mirror.” Overall, Norris is clearly not taking the Singapore incident lightly and much like the rest of the grid, has demanded consistency from the FIA. Hence, will there be clarity in the sanctions moving forward?
