Lando Norris has explained why he felt compelled to add a public apology to the private one he offered Franco Colapinto after strongly criticising the Alpine driver for causing a collision that took the Brit out of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Lando Norris has explained why he felt compelled to issue a public apology to Franco Colapinto after already apologising privately to the Alpine driver for strongly criticising him over the collision that ended the Briton’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Colapinto locked up at a Safety Car restart and crashed into his Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly, who was then sent into Norris. All three drivers were forced to retire from the race, with Colapinto subsequently handed a five-place grid penalty for this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix.
“It [the apology] was more for the wider audience, I would say. I said what I wanted to, to Franco, and he’s the only one really that I need to share my opinion and share my apology with,” said Norris.
“I don’t need to do it on social media and I don’t think I need to do it on social media to do such a thing. But at the same time, there was a lot of that noise in the background and I thought it was sensible to show that I made an apology.
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“I accepted that I was wrong. I’m generally the same with my driving, to accept when I’ve done something wrong or accept something I’ve not.
“But because it was something I said on TV, I thought it was fair that I shared it with everyone, because they all saw it. I didn’t think it was a true value of how I hold myself. At the same time, I still see social media at times and saw some bits, some not so good, some better.”
Colapinto also apologised to Gasly and Norris for his mistake but says it’s “tricky” to control social media backlash which he feels comes from “every fan base”.
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But Norris, who has previously been outspoken about online abuse, stated “some people can deal with it much better than others”.
He added: “Sadly that’s what we have to deal with – a lot of sports deal with it, which some of it is down to passion, which you have in sport and you see more of it because on social media it’s easy to share your opinions.
“And to a certain extend I respect it [passion] but to the extent of online abuse, death threats – all those things are far beyond being a fan of a sport or a driver or a person.
“There’s a line. It’s not new. It’s something that has been around every sport for a long time and highlights that social media platforms and sports need to do more to stop this kind of stuff from happening.”
‘I always trust him’ – Colapinto to face no Alpine consequences
Colapinto says he does not expect to face any consequences from Alpine and insisted that he trusts Flavio Briatore after the team boss stated he would take time “reflect on what course of action should be taken” after the “very poor” error.
“There are times in the team when everyone is angry and it’s tricky to move forward. But you always find a way,” Colapinto said on Thursday.
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“Flavio is a great team leader. He’s probably one of the best I’ve had in the sport since I started, and has a lot of experience, so he’s very good at these situations, knowing how to manage them and knowing how to make the team better.
“I always trust him with kind of stuff. It’s probably not the best when you are the one in the wrong and when you make a mistake.
“But it’s great to have him and learn from it. I think it was a difficult situation for the team. He’s a team leader, the one trying to make the team win again and making the team better.”
On whether he expected to face any internal punishment, Colapinto added: “Not really. I think as a team, we keep focusing on the same thing.
“We review everything we learn from it. It’s in the past for all of us already and we keep looking forward.”
Sky Sports F1’s live schedule Bahrain GP in Malaysia
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Friday October 2
5am: Bahrain GP Practice One (session starts at 5.30am)*
7.30am: Team Bosses’ Press Conference
8.45am: Bahrain GP Practice Two (session starts at 9am)*
10.15am: The F1 Show*
Saturday October 3
5.15am: Bahrain GP Practice Three (session starts at 5.30am)*
8am: Bahrain GP Qualifying build-up*
9am: BAHRAIN GP QUALIFYING*
Sunday October 4
6.30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Bahrain GP build-up*
8am: THE BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX*
10am: Chequered Flag: Bahrain GP reaction*
*also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 heads to Malaysia for the first time since 2017 as it hosts the Bahrain Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit – watch live coverage from Friday morning, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime