McLaren seeks right of review into Norris penalty in Canada

McLaren has lodged a petition for its right of review into the penalty given to Lando Norris during the Canadian Grand Prix.

Norris was handed a five-second time penalty for “unsportsmanlike behavior” in Montreal having been deemed by the stewards to have slowed down excessively behind the safety car in order to create a gap to teammate Oscar Piastri in front before pitting. Norris was confused by the penalty — that dropped him from ninth in the race to 13th in the results — and McLaren is now seeking a review.

In order to be granted that review, the team must convince the FIA that it has a significant and relevant new element that was not available to the stewards at the time the decision was made.

“We are very supportive of the FIA and the stewards, and we trust them while they carry out what is a difficult job,” a McLaren statement read. “We appreciate stewards need to make decisions in a short timeframe, analyzing complex scenarios and often with partial information and multiple elements to consider.

“In Canada, we were surprised by the penalty and uncertain as to the rationale behind the decision. We spoke to the stewards immediately after the race to help understand the reasoning for the penalty.

“The FIA’s regulatory framework has tools and processes which allow them and the sport to deal with the operational complexity of Formula 1, especially for decisions which need to be made during the race. The “right of review” is one of those processes which showcases the strength of the institution in allowing decisions to be reviewed, should that be in the best interest of the sport and this is something McLaren fully embraces and supports.

“Given this provision, the team took the initial explanation onboard and decided to review the case in a calm and considered manner, performing comprehensive due diligence, which included looking at the precedents. After this careful and extensive review, we believe enough evidence exists to…submit a “right to review” to the FIA, which we have done…

“We will now continue to work with the FIA closely, in the same constructive and collaborative manner in which we normally do, and will accept the outcome of their deliberations and decision.”