Lando Norris has voiced his amusement following Red Bull’s €50,000 fine for attempting to remove tape marking his grid position at the United States Grand Prix.
McLaren had placed the tape to assist Norris with car alignment. The FIA imposed the penalty because a Red Bull team member remained on the grid past the allowed time, not for the tape’s removal.
This tactic is believed to have occurred over several races, with Norris stating McLaren has "had the last laugh."
“I didn’t use the tape, so it was extra amusing,” he said.
“I didn’t need it. We just put it there in case. It’s extra funny that they got a penalty for it and I didn’t even need it.
“They tried to remove it and failed. We made it in a special way so they couldn’t take it off even. So just amusing. Side quests for the teams to entertain themselves. But we were the ones laughing about it, I guess.”
Spotting the lines on the grid which show a driver where to align their car are difficult to spot, with some teams and drivers finding different markers to help them get it right.
“They have tried to remove it in Monza and perhaps a couple of other places,” Norris added. “We have made it like F1 (car parking) passes that you can’t get out of the window, ever.”
Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton has told Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris they will need to be as “cut-throat” as Max Verstappen if they want to win the Formula One world title.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton controversially lost out to Verstappen in the fierce title scrap in 2021 and the Dutchman has romped to three championships since.
His bid for a fifth straight crown appeared to be over when he left Zandvoort in August 104 points adrift of leader Piastri.
But Verstappen has won three of the four races since and now sits only 40 points behind the Australian – with Norris himself having closed to within 14 of his McLaren team-mate.
With five rounds remaining and 141 points up for grabs ahead of this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix, Verstappen has emerged as a genuine title threat.
And Hamilton knows more than most the fearsome competitor the McLaren duo are up against as they bid to win a first drivers’ championship.
“The pressure is high. It is a time where you have to put your blinkers up and block everything from the outside. There is so much coming in, positive and negative,” Ferrari driver Hamilton told Sky Sports.
“Also, you really have to be cut-throat and that is what Max is. He is going to take this from them if they don’t do the same.
“They have got to be pushing and you have to dig deep firstly to be able to hold off someone like Max in the car that he is in at the moment.
“But for either of them to come out ahead, consistency is key and we have seen that from Max in the last few races.”
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