Norris apologizes to Colapinto amid ‘race ban’ controversy

McLaren Racing driver Lando Norris issued a public apology on Monday to Argentine racer Franco Colapinto after suggesting he should get a “race ban” for their crash in the Azerbaijan Formula 1 Grand Prix on Saturday.

“I sent Franco a message apologizing for the comments I made that I simply should not have said,” Norris wrote on an Instagram story. “I know better and emotions were running high but that is not an excuse, it was wrong of me.”

The defending F1 drivers’ champion went on to admit he’s “made mistakes of his own,” which is “part of racing,” and insisted Colapinto and he “came to a good understanding” and “are still good friends.”

Norris had come out hard against Colapinto after a collision caused by the Argentine racer eliminated both of them, as well as Pierre Gasly, the other Alpine F1 driver. 

The Brit claimed there are “some drivers that shouldn’t be in F1” and suggested those who take out other cars like Colapinto should see race bans as a sanction for the mistake.

Norris’s comments earned him the ire of the Argentine fans, who took to his and McLaren’s Instagram accounts to remind him of instances when he had similar incidents to that of Colapinto.

The controversy even had Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno weighing in. Quirno recalled Norris crashing into teammate Oscar Piastri at the 2025 Canadian GP — taking himself out and leaving Piastri narrowly surviving — and joked whether the Brit had requested a race ban back then.

On Sunday, Alpine F1 released a statement condemning online abuse. 

Colapinto’s incident The incident occurred on lap 36, as the race relaunched after a safety car period following a previous crash. 

When a grand prix is restarted following a safety car period — during which cars circulate at a limited pace behind a street-legal car — the leader is allowed to delay the launch and decide when to accelerate, to gain an advantage over the cars behind him. This generally creates havoc as drivers react faster or slower to the relaunch.

In Azerbaijan, Colapinto found himself coming up on Mercedes GP’s Kimi Antonelli, who had a slow launch. The Argentine driver darted inside to dodge him and capitalize on the situation, but locked up his brakes on the dirtier part of the track, losing control of his car. 

This resulted in him slamming into Gasly at speed, who in turn took out Norris.

Reactions to the crash The incident fueled immediate controversy. With both Alpine F1 cars in points-scoring positions before the crash, the mistake raised questions among Colapinto’s harshest critics about his suitability for the sport.

Immediately after the shunt, Colapinto apologized to the team and teammate Gasly over the radio, and was later seen offering his apologies to the Alpine F1 mechanics in the pit box.

“We lost a lot of points with both cars. It was a tough day, even though things had been going quite well up to that point,” he said after the race. “I’m disappointed with the situation, but we’ll try to turn it around soon.”

Reactions at the Alpine F1 box weren’t much kinder to the Argentine than Norris.

Talking to the team’s media staff, Gasly said he was “gutted” for the result and called the result a “disappointing outcome for everyone.”

“Franco and I have spoken together after the incident, and he has apologized, which I accept,” he added. “We will discuss everything as a team to improve going forward.”

Team principal Flavio Briatore said Alpine F1 “lost valuable points in the Championship fight” and that “these sort of incidents shouldn’t happen,” even going on to apologize to Norris and McLaren.

“Franco has taken full responsibility for it, as he should,” he said. “It was a very poor move for a driver of his experience. I want to take time to reflect on it and consider what course of action should be taken, so we can learn from it and avoid such a situation in future.”

Champions come to Colapinto’s defense Norris’s words didn’t land squarely with everyone in the F1 world.

Immediately after the race, Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen was asked about the incident and the McLaren driver’s call for race bans as sanctions, and didn’t agree with his take.

“I think, as long as the driver that caused it is aware of what he did and apologized, it happens,” he said. “A small mistake or misjudgment, you lock up, it’s on the inside, low grip… I guess a bit unfortunate that it involved so many cars and it’s not nice. But a race ban probably is a bit much.”

Race winner George Russell from Mercedes GP also showed more understanding for Colapinto, pointing out that in that situation “a very small mistake can have big consequences” and arguing a race ban would be “too harsh.”

Four-time former F1 champion Sebastian Vettel also offered a nuanced view on the crash, telling the BBC that he knew from experience “it takes very little to make a mistake” at a track like Azerbaijan, which is “very intense.”