Lando Norris apologises to Franco Colapinto over ban comments after Azerbaijan Grand Prix - BBC Sport
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Norris apologises to Colapinto for ban comments
Image source: Getty Images
Image caption: Franco Colapinto's lock-up in Turn One took out his Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly as well as McLaren's Lando Norris
By Mandeep Sanghera, BBC Sport journalist
Published 36 minutes ago
Lando Norris has apologised to Franco Colapinto for saying the Argentine should be banned for causing an accident at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Colapinto locked up at the restart after a safety-car period and slid into Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly, who then hit McLaren driver Norris, in an incident which resulted in all three retiring from the race.
Colapinto said he was "sorry" for his "big mistake", but Norris, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, stated: "Give him a ban. It's quite simple."
In a message on Instagram, world champion Norris expressed regret for his comments on Saturday:
Tough weekend overall in Baku and of course a disappointing and early end to the race. After the race, I sent Franco a message apologising for the comments I made that I simply should not have said. I know better and emotions were running high but that is not an excuse, it was wrong of me.
Me and Franco came to a good understanding, are still good friends and are both excited to get back racing this weekend.
Colapinto received a 10-second penalty during the race, but as he was already retired this has been converted into a five-place grid drop, which he will serve at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia this weekend.