Norris apologises to Colapinto for Baku 'not in F1' comments — SkimNews
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- Lando Norris posted on Instagram Monday apologizing to Franco Colapinto for his post-Azerbaijan GP remarks, writing that emotions were running high but 'that is not an excuse, it was wrong of me'
- Colapinto triggered the crash during a Safety Car restart by locking his brakes into the first corner, sending his Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly into the side of Norris' McLaren and taking all three cars out
- Immediately after the race, Norris said 'there are some drivers who shouldn't be in Formula 1' and called for one-race bans for drivers who cause such incidents
- Colapinto apologized to both Gasly and Norris post-race but was handed a five-place grid penalty for this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia
- Alpine released a statement condemning online hate aimed at drivers and the wider F1 community, insisting their condemnation was 'not aimed at any one fan base or the supporters of one team or driver'
- It's not the first online-abuse flashpoint this season — FIA stewards and Alpine staff were targeted after a Zandvoort penalty, and Gasly and his family received threats following the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid
Why it matters: Norris' walkback from his call for one-race bans shows the reigning champion recalibrating his rhetoric after a heated on-track moment, while Colapinto carries a five-place grid penalty into Malaysia's first F1 race since 2017. The recurring pattern of threats against drivers and officials underscores how online abuse, not just on-track incidents, has become a structural problem the paddock feels compelled to publicly address.
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