FIA announce McLaren penalty verdict after Lando Norris incident at Miami Grand Prix

The FIA have announced the verdict from the stewards over whether Lando Norris and McLaren will receive a penalty at the Miami Grand Prix following an investigation into a bizarre incident in FP1.

Norris was hit with a strange issue during the session where he complained that there were still tools and an LED torch in his cockpit, and made his way to the pits to remove the items from his car.

Verstappen handed official verdict as FIA announce punishment over ‘dangerous’ incident

However, the FIA noted McLaren for releasing a car in an unsafe condition, an alleged breach of Article 34.14 c) which in the sporting regulations can lead to a penalty such as a grid drop.

Will Norris serve a penalty at the Miami Grand Prix?

Whilst the sporting regulations stated that the stewards could hand Norris a penalty such as a grid drop, the stewards deemed that a genuine mistake was made.

Following an investigation after FP1, the stewards have decided to hand an official warning to McLaren for the incident.An official statement shared by the FIA read: “The team admitted in the hearing that they made a genuine mistake by leaving two torches/flashlights in the cockpit when releasing Car 4 from the garage.

“However, the driver realised directly after entering the track that some equipment was in the car and was able to secure both parts shortly after leaving the pit exit before returning slowly to the pits.”The Stewards determine that the incident qualifies as a car being released in an unsafe condition, but the driver realised the problem extremely quickly and reacted adequately to prevent any unsafe or dangerous situation. This is taken into account in mitigation and a Warning to the Competitor is issued.”Norris enters the Miami GP weekend behind his team-mate Oscar Piastri in the championship, after a crash during qualifying at the Saudi Arabian GP undid his weekend and forced him to fight from 10th on the grid to finish the race in P4.