The FIA ​​has explained the reasons behind Lando Norris’ heavy penalty at Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix and the delay in deploying the safety car.

After the penultimate race of the Formula 1 season in Lusail, the race management came into the spotlight after Norris was handed one of the harshest penalties available to race stewards.

The McLaren driver, who was battling Max Verstappen for the win, received a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for failing to slow down due to double-waved yellow flags due to debris on the straight, leaving him around 36 seconds cost in race time.

The flags were shown because a loose wing mirror belonging to Alex Albon’s Williams was lying on the right side of the main straight and needed to be recovered. But the safety car was only deployed when Valtteri Bottas hit the mirror and scattered more debris across the track.

After the race, McLaren team boss Andrea Stella questioned why Norris was given such a heavy penalty, which dropped him from second to last place before he eventually recovered to tenth place. There were also questions in the paddock as to why it had taken so long. The safety car was deployed in response to the loose mirror.

The re-examination comes amid a series of changes at the FIA ​​in recent weeks, including the sudden departure of F1 race director Niels Wittich three races before the end of the season. His successor, Rui Marques, also had to become race director of Formula 2 and the F1 Academy in Qatar after another farewell to the FIA.

Norris was given a hefty fine in Qatar (Joe Portlock/Getty Images)

The FIA ​​confirmed after the race that it would issue an explanation for the race management’s actions, which was released on Monday.

Regarding the Norris penalty, the FIA ​​said that the 10-second stop-and-go “was in line with the penalty guidelines distributed to teams on February 19, 2024” and that a double yellow violation “is viewed as a serious compromise “. for safety reasons, which is why such violations are punished with such high penalties.”

Norris admitted after the race that he had failed to get through the section of the track and apologized to McLaren, but Stella noted that race management had been indecisive because of the yellow flags in that section.

Regarding the time required for the safety car to be deployed, the FIA ​​said that “normal practice is for the safety car not to be deployed when there is a small amount of debris and is outside the racing line.” Several drivers said after the race that they didn’t even see the loose wing mirror.

After the mirror was hit, leaving “large pieces of debris” behind, which may have contributed to the punctures of Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton, the FIA ​​said it had “forced the decision to deploy a safety car”.

Apparently a virtual safety car “would not have been a solution, as the cars remain spread out and there is not enough time for a marshal to clear the debris.” Due to the amount of debris, the cars had to drive through the pit lane even while the car was being cleared.

“The FIA ​​is constantly reviewing its methods and processes and will further analyze the specific scenario and discuss it with the teams to see if a different approach is required in the future,” the explainer said.

The FIA ​​also addressed the safety car lighting malfunction during the second safety car phase. Norris was vocal about the safety car lights not turning off on the restart and requested confirmation from his technician over the radio that the race would resume soon.

The FIA ​​said that “all teams were verbally informed that the safety car would arrive, so the restart took place as usual.” Ahead of its third outing following the retirements of Sergio Pérez and Nico Hülkenberg, the safety car was then called out as a precaution. Car replaced.

Marques ran his second Grand Prix as F1 race director after taking over from Wittich for Las Vegas, and also ran the F2 and F1 Academy races with a workload previously considered too much for one person. This came after the sudden departure of Janette Tan, who was set to replace Marques in Formula 2 following his move into the F1 role.

Formula 1 drivers have also recently criticized FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem over his approach to swearing and called for more transparency from the governing body because it was not informed about Wittich’s sudden exit.

Ben Sulayem responded to drivers in an interview with Autosport in Qatar that the way he runs the FIA ​​is “none of their business”.

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(Top photo: Joe Portlock/Getty Images)