Lando Norris’ Grand Prix weekend in Qatar went from bad to worse after Sunday’s Grand Prix, with the Brit receiving three penalty points on his super license for failing to slow down for the yellow flags.

Although Norris reduced his gap to Max Verstappen in the F1 2024 title race to just 44 points in the sprint in Brazil a month ago, his joy turned to disappointment in the weeks that followed.

Lando Norris scored his first penalty points in 12 months

A day after the sprint, he lost the Grand Prix despite starting from pole position and almost ensuring race winner Verstappen secured the world title with his sixth place in a red flag race.

The Red Bull driver did so at the next race in Las Vegas, with Norris admitting it “hurt”, only for F1 race stewards to compound his misery at the next race in Qatar.

Norris, who was chasing Verstappen for the race lead, was hit with a massive 10-second stop-and-go penalty in Qatar for failing to slow down due to yellow flags being waved due to debris on the track.

In tenth place he managed to fight his way back into the points, but Charles Leclerc reduced his lead over second place in the overall standings to just eight points with one race to go.

The stewards compounded Norris’ misery by giving him three penalty points on his super license for his yellow flag violation.

The FIA ​​​​ruled that “car 4 did not slow down because the yellow flag was waved twice”, which constituted a “violation of Appendix H, Article 2.5.5 b) of the International Sporting Code” and ruled that Norris not only received a 10-second stop, penalty, but also three penalty points on his super license.

“The telemetry and on-board audio clearly showed that the driver of Car 4 did not reduce speed in the yellow sector. “The double-waved yellow flags and yellow lights were clearly visible to him,” said the stewards’ decision.

“Compliance with the yellow flag rules is of the utmost importance for the safety of all parties and this requirement is clearly noted in the first item of the race director’s event instructions at each event.”

F1 2024: Head-to-head stats between teammates

👉F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between teammates

👉F1 2024: Direct race statistics between teammates

McLaren team boss speaks of “pain and disappointment” after the punishment for Qatar.

McLaren goes into the final race of the season leading the constructors’ championship with 640 points ahead of Ferrari with 619 points.

However, without Norris’ penalty, the advantage could have been greater as he was on his way to second place before the 10-second stop-and-go penalty.

McLaren team boss Andrea Stella refused to blame Norris for McLaren missing out on the title in Qatar, after all, he had a large part in ensuring McLaren was even in the race.

“What I can say is that we are in a position to go into the final race as the leaders of the championship,” Stella told the media, including PlanetF1.com, “because both of our drivers have done a great job and that has us brought in the points.” In summary, it gave us the lead from the designers’ point of view.

“Lando played a key role in getting McLaren to this state.

“So while we look at what we can do better, pain and disappointment are certainly the predominant feelings on Lando’s side today.

“At the same time, we can only be grateful for what Lando has done for the team and we are sure that this will give him even more determination to be strong in Abu Dhabi and complete the task that remains unfinished could.” here in Qatar.”

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