Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has described the penalty Lando Norris copped in the Qatar Grand Prix as “brutal” as he admitted it could cost McLaren the Formula 1 title.
McLaren missed out on a slim chance to secure the Constructors’ Championship last weekend as a 10-second stop-and-go penalty cost Norris a sizeable points haul.
Norris had been chasing down race leader Max Verstappen’s Red Bull when the stewards determined that he hadn’t slowed down for double-waved yellows on Lap 31.
The decision slipped Norris down to 14th and last with minimal laps remaining, though he was able to salvage two points as he recovered to 10th with the fastest lap.
However, Charles Leclerc inheriting Norris’ second place, coupled with Carlos Sainz coming home sixth, was enough to see Ferrari reduce McLaren’s lead to 21 points.
Wolff has indicated that McLaren coming up short in this weekend’s Abu Dhabi season finale would prompt Norris’ Qatar punishment to be seen as a critical moment.
Norris’ severe penalty has come at a time when the FIA has been under pressure amid the choice to appoint a new race director in Rui Marques with three races to go.
But although he is not opposed to harsher sanctions being dished out, Wolff has urged Marques to guarantee that he adopts a consistent stance on his future rulings.
“I think the penalties were brutal, particularly to McLaren, [it] could cost [them] the championship,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1.
“I don’t know what the infringement exactly was, most important thing is there is consistency.
“And if the race director comes in and he has a hard stance, that’s okay as long as everybody knows that’s the hard stance, and you need to comply to it.”
McLaren questions severity of Norris penalty
Norris owned up to not seeing the light panels as he rued costing McLaren, which took third through Oscar Piastri, added breathing room over Ferrari in the standings.
McLaren boss Andrea Stella acknowledged that the penalty was “deserved”, but he questioned whether the time loss Norris was given suited the violation committed.
“I think the penalty was deserved,” Stella told media including Motorsport Week.
“Which leads us then to two important requirements. One is proportion and the second one is specificity. I think the application of the penalty lacks both requirements.
“Is there an immediate danger for somebody, is there a crash scene? Like the specificity of the incident in which the infringement was committed.
“The specificity leads into the proportion. The penalty needs to be commensurate, it needs to be proportioned to the severity of the infringement.
“It’s interesting that the FIA themselves were going on and off with the yellow flag and at some stage the yellow flag was even removed.
“The lack of any specificity and proportion is very concerning and is also a factor that could have a decisive impact on the championship quest.
“It’s definitely material that the FIA should consider very seriously if we want fairness to be part of the going racing in F1.”
READ MORE – McLaren: FIA should seriously consider fairness in F1 amid Lando Norris Qatar penalty
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