Lando Norris blasts Franco Colapinto after Azerbaijan GP

A difficult day came to an early end for Lando Norris at the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

And the reigning Drivers’ Champion was none too happy about that when he met the media after the race.

Norris was struggling over the opening stint of the race, sliding back in the top ten after picking up a position on the opening lap of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. But his situation turned from bad to worse on a restart in the closing stages, as an incident at Turn 1 ended his day.

The spark? That came from Franco Colapinto, who dove down to the inside entering Turn 1, trying to cut the corner at the sharp left-handed turn on the restart. But Colapinto slid into the side of his teammate, Pierre Gasly, who then slid into Norris. The three-way collision knocked all three drivers out of the points, and out of the race.

That apology, however, was of little solace to Norris.

“I was just slow,” said Norris to the official F1 channel. “Struggling a lot in the straights. I mean, you saw how quickly everyone came past me. Just an impossible race out there for me, from that side, the straight-line speed today. Hopefully we get that fixed for next time.

“In the end of the day, just got taken out, so, just some drivers that shouldn’t be in Formula 1.”

Asked to reflect on the weekend, and if there were any positives, Norris pointed to the fact that he should have “won three of the last four races,” pointing to a bad break for him at the Spanish Grand Prix.

But now he has been dealt a pair of bad breaks in a row.

So you might understand his frustration.