MEXICO CITY :Lando Norris mocked Formula One rivals Red Bull on Thursday after the team was heavily fined last weekend following a failed attempt to remove his McLaren grid marker tape.
The Briton told reporters in Mexico that McLaren had stuck tape to the track side of the pit wall to help him align his car on the starting grid for the race at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas.
Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen was on pole for the race, which he went on to win, with Norris qualifying and finishing second.
A Red Bull mechanic tried to remove the tape as the formation lap began but was found in breach of grid safety rules, triggering a 50,000 euro ($58,310) fine with half suspended. The stewards did not mention the tape detail in their report.
“I didn’t use the tape, so it was extra amusing because I didn’t need it,” said Norris with a smile. “We just put it there in case.
“It made it extra funny because they got a penalty for it and I didn’t even need it.”
NOT THE FIRST TIME IT HAS HAPPENED
Norris, second in the championship and 14 points behind teammate Oscar Piastri with Verstappen 40 off the lead, said it was not the first time Red Bull had tried to remove the marker.
The use of such tape is not against the regulations, and other teams also do it, but the intervention was seen as another example of the hyper-competitive nature of the sport and gamesmanship.
Norris said McLaren had made the tape extra sticky.
Norris said he had used the regular lines on the grid to ensure he positioned the car correctly, avoiding any penalty for a false start, but would continue using a tape as a backup.
“I will continue to use it (put it up there). But in 95 per cent (of times) I’ll use the line on the grid,” he said.
Verstappen told reporters separately that he accepted the reasons for his team being fined. “I think it’s quite understandable that you get fined for that,” he said of the breach.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
