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McLaren's Lando Norris says it was good that Alex Albon was not penalised for the incident they had during the Japanese Grand Prix. The pair made contact when Albon made a late dive down the inside at the final chicane.
Norris said that he didn't see Red Bull's Albon until he was alongside him and that he managed to avoid a big accident but he refused to blame Albon and was clear to emphasise that racing should be about attempted overtakes.
"I saw him fricking late, to be honest, I can't remember exactly what happened, it was a long race," Albon said. "I started to turn in, I was on my brakes but they weren't slowing me down properly.
"I think he must have committed before and I was almost getting to the apex, at which point I saw him. It could quite easily have turned into something a lot worse.
"So it was a bit of a risk from him, he would have got past sooner or later, His car was much quicker so it was a bit of a risk but I guess that's racing."
Norris described the race as frustrating as the early pit stop meant he couldn't make the most of the two-stop strategy and that he was missing one or two tenths which prevented him coming through as he had hoped.
"After going into Turn 1 it was looking very promising and then quite quickly went out of control."
After he checked to make sure that Albon hadn't been penalised Norris said: "Good, he kind of forced me off but that's racing. That's how it should be, he sent it up the inside, he made a move, fair play to the guy".
Grand Prix of Belgium
C. Sainz jr
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Replies (1)
Login to replyajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
Interesting, I was of the opinion that he should have been penalized, It's actually pretty shocking to see a driver glad that competition didn't get a penalty after tangling up. But yes, I can see Lando's point, it was marginal. What wasn't marginal though, was that batshit crazy attempt of Charles Leclerc to keep going with a broken car. I still can't believe nobody has made a bigger deal out of it. The F1 official highlights video shows a chunk of front wing literally ripping off Hamilton's mirror. It's crazy. The penalty was too late and too lenient.