Lando Norris reprimanded after near-miss under Safety Car at Sepang

Evasive action at Turn 1

Lando Norris has received an official reprimand from Formula 1 stewards after a late-race near-miss behind the Safety Car at Sepang.

The McLaren driver had to take emergency evasive action, steering off the track and into the gravel trap to avoid crashing into the back of his teammate, Oscar Piastri, as the pack bunched up. Norris managed to rejoin the race and eventually finished in ninth place.

The bottleneck was triggered when George Russell’s Mercedes suffered a mechanical failure and came to a halt on the right-hand side of the track near the pit lane entrance. This caused a sudden, dramatic deceleration through the field behind him.

Norris admitted he was caught completely off guard by how quickly the cars ahead came to a halt. "I couldn't see from the angle, and just from where I was, how much everyone had stopped because of George on the inside," Norris said. He explained that by the time he looked back after checking on Russell's car, the queue was barely moving. "They were going 10 [kph], so I just got completely caught out. I guess it’s my fault at the end of the day."

Why the stewards reprimanded Norris

To avoid hitting Piastri, Norris braked heavily and steered to the left, crossing the kerbs and sliding into the gravel. The stewards noted that driving onto the kerbs reduced the grip available for braking, which made it even harder for him to slow down and caused him to momentarily overshoot Piastri.

While Norris argued that a low sun and poor visibility made it difficult to see that the cars ahead had slowed down so early, the stewards rejected this as an excuse. In their official ruling, they stated that Norris should have taken the challenging visibility into account and managed his speed and gap with greater care.

The stewards determined that Norris had driven erratically, breaching Article B5.13.2a of the FIA Formula 1 regulations. However, they chose to hand him a reprimand rather than a grid or time penalty because he reacted quickly and successfully avoided a collision.

Norris was also cleared of any illegal overtaking. Although he momentarily slid ahead of Piastri, the stewards ruled this was a direct result of him losing control and going off-track, rather than an intentional pass, especially since Piastri immediately retook the position. They also ruled that his subsequent rejoin ahead of Aston Martin's Lance Stroll was completed safely.

Albon cleared of erratic driving

In a separate incident during an earlier Safety Car period, Williams driver Alexander Albon was cleared of erratic driving after an investigation.

Albon had slowed down rapidly on the approach to the pit entry, forcing Piastri to brake hard and take avoiding action behind him. Albon explained to the stewards that he had slowed because he realised he was running below his required delta time and needed to comply with the regulations.

Piastri told the stewards he understood Albon's actions once they were explained. The stewards agreed that Albon’s sudden drop in speed was a legitimate attempt to comply with the rules rather than erratic or dangerous driving, and chose to take no further action.