‘We all make mistakes’ – Norris reflects on apology to Colapinto over Baku comments

Lando Norris has reflected on the apology he made to Franco Colapinto over his post-race comments at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with the Briton conceding that he got “caught up in the heat of the moment” in Baku.

A lock-up from Colapinto at Turn 1 during the first Safety Car restart saw the Alpine driver run into team mate Pierre Gasly, which resulted in the Frenchman hitting the McLaren of Norris. The incident put both Gasly and Norris out of the race, while Colapinto limped to the pits but ultimately retired.

The Argentinian was subsequently handed a 10-second time penalty, which was converted into a five-place grid drop for this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.

Speaking to the media immediately after the race, Norris stated that there were “some drivers that shouldn’t be in F1”, as well as suggesting that Colapinto should receive a ban. However, the World Champion later shared a statement on Monday via social media in which he explained that he had directly apologised to Colapinto for his comments.

Norris discussed this further during media day in Sepang, where he was quizzed on whether it was helpful to lean on other drivers as a support network when these scenarios occur.

“I've certainly leant on other drivers in the past for help in different situations and advice in different situations,” the 26-year-old said. “Not that I think this was necessarily that case at all – it was just me not saying the right things and saying some things that aren't a true reflection of me or what I really mean deep down.

“I think I don't normally get caught up in the heat of the moment but this was certainly one of the cases where I think I did, and for me the most important thing was to speak to Franco about it. He's the only guy, let's say, that I want to direct something to and care about in this situation, and that's what I did.

“I spoke to him already on Sunday night as soon as I could, and of course I put the post out later in the week to apologise, to let everyone know that I did it because there was also the rest of the world that I felt like I owed the apology to.

“As drivers we all get along, Franco is a good friend of mine who I get on well with. He always means well – he’s a very good guy. Of course, at the same time I felt like I owed him that apology more than everyone else.”

Alpine shared a statement condemning the “hate and abuse” posted online following the race in Azerbaijan, with Norris admitting that such behaviour is “not easy for anyone”.

“There's just a level of respect and humility that I think people should have,” he explained. “We all mistakes – one of those things was me making the mistake last weekend. There's a level of things, and as a community we need to understand how we can make it better.”

In terms of McLaren’s prospects at the Sepang International Circuit, Norris is hopeful that the venue might be better suited to the MCL40.

“I hope it's better than Baku – I expect it to be better than Baku,” the 13-time race winner said. “We certainly will be more confident if we can fix some of the problems I've had on my car. Over the weekend in Baku, it just made my car more tough than it needs to be, which is the straight-line speed and power problems we've been having.

“I want to believe so. I think we still believe as a team we have a competitive car and it's still strong in certain areas. Hopefully a combination of all these things means we can have a better weekend.”