LANDO NORRIS AT ODDS WITH MCLAREN CHIEF OVER F1 STAR'S BEHAVIOUR AT MIAMI GRAND PRIX

Lando Norris and McLaren team principal Andrea Stella have disagreed over whether the driving Kevin Magnussen at the weekend's Maimi Grand Prix was fair.

The Haas driver ended up receiving three ten second penalties following the tactics he employed to keep a charging Lewis Hamilton at bay during the sprint race. The Dane overshot the Turn 14 chicane and went straight on, earning him a 10-second time penalty and was punished again later in the race as he toed the line to keep the Mercedes driver at bay.

In doing so he allowed team-mate Nico Hulkenberg to clear off and pick up some valuable points. His antics didn't please everyone with Stella suggesting the sport's chiefs should eventually look at suspending drivers from races, not just penalising them.

He said: “We have a case of behaviour being intentional in terms of damaging another competitor and this behaviour is perpetuated within the same race and repeated over the same season. How can penalties be accumulative? They should be exponential.

“It is not five plus five plus five equals 15. Five plus five plus five equals maybe you need to spend a weekend at home with your family and reflect on your sportsmanship and then go back… It is completely unacceptable. It makes no sense from a sportsmanship point of view and this should be addressed immediately.”

Norris though believes that Magnussen's driving was "smart" but conceded that it would be tough to stomach if you were in Hamilton's position with team thinking clearly at play.

He said: “It's kind of like Monaco if your teammate was ninth and you overtake and you do a Fernando a couple of years ago where you just blocked everyone. But you cut the course to overtake someone. You know you're going to get a penalty, but you save your teammate.

“They can box. You can do it. You know you're going to get the penalty, but you play a big team game. So, it depends on how far you just want to push against that. It's cruel and it's tough to take when you're the other driver. But, I think what he did was smart."

Norris is basking in the glory of the first win of his Formula 1 career. The McLaren driver has stood on the podium numerous times but had never taken the top step before an impressive driver in Florida, where he took advantage of a timely safety car.

The Brit's talent has long been hailed and his frustration at McLaren has been evident when he's been unable to challenge at the front of the grid. Now though the English team look able to contest with the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari going forward.

2024-05-07T17:15:35Z dg43tfdfdgfd