Stewards offer explanation for Norris' hefty penalty at the Qatar Grand Prix
Having been hit with the hefty penalty at the Qatar Grand Prix, Lando Norris finished down in tenth place. The stewards explained that the Briton was given the race-deciding penalty as "the compliance with the yellow flag rules is paramount for the safety."
McLaren were favourites heading into the Qatar Grand Prix, with the Lusail International Circuit playing to the strengths of their MCL38 due to its long-radius medium-speed corners.
The team delivered in sprint qualifying and took an impressive one-two finish in the Qatar F1 Sprint before losing out in the main qualifying in which Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri only finished third and fourth behind Max Verstappen.
The British driver jumped to second at the start, and disappeared with Verstappen into the distance, but a yellow flag incident meant that he was hit with a ten-second stop-and-go penalty. After serving the penalty, he rejoined the field in last place, but showing eye-catching performance in the final stages of the race, he bounced back to take the last championship point.
In addition to the ten-second stop-and-go penalty, Norris was given three points on his driver licence, which are the first points for the current 12-month period.
The stewards noted in their statement that Norris did not reduce his speed in the yellow sector, although the yellow lights were clear to recognize for the drivers.
The stewards' statement read: "The Stewards reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, telemetry and in-car video evidence."
"The telemetry and on-board audio clearly showed that the driver of Car 4 did not make any reduction in speed in the yellow sector. The double waved yellow flags and yellow lights were clearly visible to him.
"Compliance with the yellow flag rules is paramount for the safety of all parties and this requirement is clearly noted in the first item of the Race Director's Event Notes at every event."
But what does the race director's notes claim regarding the double yellow flag rules?
"Any driver passing through a double waved yellow marshalling sector must reduce speed significantly and be prepared to change direction or stop.
"In order for the stewards to be satisfied that any such driver has complied with these requirements it must be clear that he has not
attempted to set a meaningful lap time."
