McLaren wants FIA review on penalty stance amid fears of future “consequences”

McLaren believes the FIA should review how penalties are handed out in Formula 1 after warning that Lando Norris’s stop-go sanction in the Qatar GP risks “consequences”.

While the Woking-based team accepts that Norris did not slow down for the double yellow flags that were brought out for Alex Albon’s stranded mirror on the straight, team boss Andrea Stella believes the 10-second stop-go penalty he was given for what he did was too extreme.

He believes that the punishment was far out of kilter with the crime, and fears there is a danger of repeated circumstances in the future throwing up some wider problems.

Speaking after the race,  Stella said: “I’m here acknowledging that, checking the data, Lando did not slow down.

“But 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 competition of the going racing in Formula 1. It’s an important business.

“There’s a huge commitment from every team, a huge commitment from all the parties, and we need to make sure that the business is run in a way that some fundamental element of proportion and specificity is guaranteed when a penalty is applied. Otherwise, the consequences may go out of control.

“To me, it looks like somewhere there must be a book with a lot of dust on the cover that was kind of taken out [and someone said]: ‘Let me see what it says. I apply this.'”

Stella explained that any review he wants by the FIA is more about how penalties are applied in the future, rather than trying to open the door to change Norris’ penalty.

“We expect that this case of applying such a severe penalty will be reviewed by the FIA, and there is certainly, in our opinion, material for improvement once the FIA has taken this opportunity to open a review of their operations and application of the penalty,” he explained.

“As for the rest, we don’t want to comment. We trust the FIA in terms of their decisions, in terms of when you put somebody in a certain role – that’s the job of the FIA.

“For us, we have expressed that we expect this to be the case to be reviewed but we don’t want to enter with any comment about changes of racing director. We don’t have the elements to judge, so we just trust the institution that is there to do this kind of job.”

McLaren was not alone in questioning the draconian sanctions the FIA handed out in the race, which included a drive-through penalty for Lewis Hamilton for speeding behind the safety car in the pitlane.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff told Sky: “The penalties were brutal, particularly to McLaren – and it can cost the championship.

“I don’t know what the infringement was, but the most important thing is that there’s consistency. If the race director comes in and he has a hard stance, that’s OK as long as everybody knows that it’s a hard stance, and you have to comply with it.”

Photos from Qatar GP Race