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Norris says his call for Colapinto ban was 'wrong'
Philip Duncan, Press Association F1 Correspondent •  September 29th, 2026 10:06 am
Lando Norris has walked back his call for Franco Colapinto to be banned | Photo: AP
The British world champion demanded serious action after Colapinto triggered a three-car pile-up which forced him to retire from Saturday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Norris was subjected to an abusive online backlash – largely from Colapinto's fans – despite the Alpine driver accepting fault for the collision.
However, in a post on Instagram, Norris has revealed he sent Colapinto, who will serve a five-place grid penalty for the accident at this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix, an apology.
Franco Colapinto caused a three-car crash in Baku | Photo: AP
"Tough weekend overall in Baku and of course a disappointing and early end to the race," said Norris.
"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.
"I've made mistakes of my own over the years and I know this is very much a part of racing and fighting on the limit.
"Me and Franco came to a good understanding, are still good friends and are both excited to get back racing this weekend."
Norris' failure to finish in Baku leaves him 116 points off the championship pace with eight scheduled rounds left.
After the race in Baku, Norris said: "If you cause a crash on a restart like this, you should have at least a one-race ban.
"It is just careless. It costs a lot of money, all my parts are in the bin now. It is not driving that deserves to be in Formula One.
"You want to be against the best drivers and when stuff like this happens it is because, yeah, they shouldn't be there."
