---
title: "Norris urges F1 to rethink ‘stupid’ penalty points system"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2021/07/05/norris-urges-f1-to-rethink-stupid-penalty-points-system/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Hamilton Lyndon-Griffiths"
section: "F1 News"
published: "2021-07-05T10:40:35Z"
modified: "2021-07-05T10:40:37Z"
---

# Norris urges F1 to rethink ‘stupid’ penalty points system

Lando Norris believes Formula 1 needs to consider changing its penalty points system, calling it “stupid” to penalise drivers for minor incidents.

Norris was handed a five-second time penalty and given two penalty points on his license after being judged to have forced Sergio Perez off the track on Lap 5 of the Austrian Grand Prix.

It has left the McLaren driver just two points away from an automatic one-race ban, although his total will be reduced by the British Grand Prix when two of his points expire.

Aside from his battle with Perez, Norris has received penalty points for previous yellow flag infringements and for not pitting under a red flag during last month’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Norris argued he hasn’t done anything worthy of a race ban, saying penalty points should be reserved for drivers who have been deemed to “put people in danger”.

“My approach of the incident in Baku with the red flag and not boxing when I should have done, I didn’t put anyone in harm’s way, in fact the opposite and I did everything safely,” Norris said, as quoted by Motorsport.com.

“Why should I deserve penalty points for that? Why should I deserve penalty points today for someone going into the gravel? So yeah, nothing I’ve done is dangerous.

“I feel like maybe in some cases you deserve an on-track penalty because you’ve done something bad in terms of racing and you just made a mistake, but then you have things that people do every now and then which is purely dangerous.

“So, if you do generally overtake in a yellow flag and do something that’s just clearly a rule, that will put people in danger, then I understand penalty points for a driver. And if that adds up, you’ll get a race ban.

“But for little things like this it’s just stupid, in my opinion. It’s not what Formula 1 should be and I would expect and hope that other people would back me up on this kind of opinion.”

Red Bull driver and current championship leader Max Verstappen also felt Norris had been dealt with harshly, insisting the Briton’s previous incidents are not worthy of a race ban.

“Let’s say, how many \[penalty points\] do you get, two? So if you would have six of these incidents, I don’t think you deserve a ban for what he did today. It’s just not correct,” Verstappen said.

“I mean, I’ve been there myself, I’ve been at nine or 10 points myself. It’s how it goes.

“But I don’t think with the things \[Norris\] got the penalty points for, let’s say you would get to 12, you don’t deserve a ban for that.

“I said it before myself I think two years ago, we should look into that.”