Lando Norris, who took pole position in the sprint classification of the Miami Grand Prix, was under investigation after the end of the session, after being summoned by the FIA stewards.
According to the official document issued by the race authorities, the McLaren driver and a team representative were summoned to appear before the stewards at 6:15 p.m., Miami time, in relation to an alleged breach of sporting regulations.
The reason for the citation states: “Alleged violation of Article 12.2.1.i of the International Sports Code and failure to comply with the Race Director’s Notes (point 1, document 20): driving unnecessarily slow during classification.”
The document indicated in the Race Director’s Notes refers to the following:
“Laps during sprint qualifying, qualifying session and reconnaissance laps: to ensure the safe and orderly development of the competition, except in exceptional circumstances that are recognized as such by the stewards, any driver who exceeds the maximum time established between the Second Safety Car Line and the First Safety Car Line on any lap, during or after sprint qualifying or the qualifying session – including entry and exit laps – or during reconnaissance laps when the pit exit is opened for the sprint and the race, may be considered as driving unnecessarily slow.
Teams and drivers will be informed of the maximum time after the practice session.
For the avoidance of doubt, this does not replace the provisions of Articles B1.8.5 and B4.1.1 of the FIA Formula 1 Regulations, which apply to the entire circuit; Furthermore, this also includes the pit lane. “Incidents will normally be investigated after sprint qualifying, qualifying session, sprint or race.”
Lando Norris avoids sanction in Miami
Following a detailed investigation during Sprint Qualifying, the FIA stewards decided not to take further action against Lando Norris, who was flagged for exceeding the time limit of 1:48.0 between the Safety Car lines during SQ2.
Although the McLaren driver surpassed the record set in the Race Director’s notes, review of positioning data and onboard cameras revealed that Norris remained within the allowed delta for almost the entire lap.
The incident occurred just before turn 17, at which point he was suddenly overtaken by Audi’s Nico Hülkenberg, forcing the Briton to react to create the space necessary to begin his dashing lap.
Considering that this represented an extenuating circumstance, the authorities concluded that the pilot did not drive unnecessarily slowly, so it was determined to close the case without penalties.
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