Lando Norris Keeps Sprint Pole After Being Investigated For ‘Stupid’ F1 Rule

Posted on November 4, 2023 | by Charley Williams See, this is what we like about the Sprints! On Friday, Lando Norris had a disappointing end to what could have been a very strong qualifying session, but he had a chance of redemption during Saturday’s Sprint Shootout and boy, did he take it.  Norris will start on pole for the Brazil Sprint later on today, but whilst it was much more straightforward in terms of not having to fight through a literal storm – he still had the stewards to contend with. It was announced that Lando would be summoned to the stewards for failing to follow the race director’s instructions in relation to the maximum time that drivers must adhere to between the two safety car lines. It’s been quite the conversation topic this season. It has been heavily enforced to avoid unnecessarily dangerous situations during qualifying, such as drivers backing up to build a gap on track. Fortunately for Lando, he has only been given a reprimand for the offence and will remain on the front row for the sprint race. The stewards determined that he was held up by Tsuonda in front of him and that he had made a reasonable effort to not interfere with other cars around him. However, they felt he could have done more to manage delta time in a better way, and therefore, a reprimand is an appropriate penalty. Lando has other thoughts about this F1 rule, though. Talking to Sky Sports F1 before visiting the stewards, he told them: “I tried to go, but there were two cars ahead of me. It’s just a silly rule. “Two cars came out the pits at a similar time and crossed the line, so one of them has to back off, otherwise you’re gonna race, and it’s just silly. One had to back off, and I had to back off, so it’s just… this rule is stupid in my eyes.” ???? What do you make of the maximum lap delta rule F1 has set recently?