Former McLaren mechanic and Formula 1 pundit Marc Priestley has branded Franco Colapinto’s Turn 1 collision at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix “outrageous”, but dismissed Lando Norris’s demand for the Alpine driver to face a race ban.
Colapinto went for a move down the inside into Turn 1 during a safety car restart in Baku, but locked up and collided with his Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly, who in turn crashed into Lando Norris.
The clash eliminated both Alpines and Norris, costing the French team a likely double-points finish.
While speaking to the media immediately after the crash, Norris said that Colapinto should face a race ban for the move, although he has now issued an apology for his comments.
Speaking on the BBC’s Chequered Flag Podcast, Priestley criticised the move by the Argentinian driver but also called out Norris for his comments.
“Colapinto’s move was outrageous. He came from so far back. He didn’t just get it a little bit wrong, which you can sort of accept. He got it miles wrong,” Priestley explained.
“But that’s on him. He’s a young driver, and I saw him afterwards going around the entire team apologising with his tail between his legs.
Lando Norris, McLaren
Photo by: Joe Portlock / Getty Images
“A race ban is the sort of thing that you give somebody if that happens repeatedly, if driving standards are consistently falling below par, then absolutely we’ve seen it in the past, you get a discipline through a ban.”
Colapinto was given a 10-second penalty for the incident, which has been converted to a five-place grid penalty for the upcoming Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
“One incident like this, bad though it was, I think the penalty that he has come away with, which turned into a five-place grid penalty for next week, probably suffices,” Priestley added.
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