Masi on Norris penalty in Baku: "Could have been much more extreme"

Besides the punctures of Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen, there was also a lot of controversy about the penalty of Lando Norris during qualifying for the Baku GP. Norris and McLaren obviously did not agree and there was also criticism from other corners. In conversation with Motorsports.com F1 race director Michael Masi feels compelled to explain things.

Starting with the red flag itself and the rules that come with it. "First of all, the meaning of a red flag is clear, it starts already in karts and continues through to Formula 1. You have to reduce speed and come straight to the pits," said the Australian. "There is no ambiguity about that for either a six-year-old in his first karting event or in Formula 1. That's consistent for all track racing."

Regarding the penalty Lando Norris received, a three-place grid penalty and three penalty points on his super license, Masi says Norris still got away with it. There are guidelines according to the Australian, but in this specific case it was handled differently. As a result, Norris' penalty was less extreme.

"In terms of the penalty points and the penalty itself, the stewards can decide what they think is appropriate for the incident in question. Yes, they have a guideline that they use, but in this case, because of extenuating circumstances, they felt it was appropriate not to apply what the guideline prescribed. That was a more severe penalty. In terms of the penalty points, they felt the number of penalty points in the guideline was appropriate because it was a red flag offence." In short: the young Briton's penalty could have been much greater.