Norris Breaks Silence on Public Apology to Colapinto After Azerbaijan Crash

Lando Norris has clarified his reasoning for issuing a public apology to Alpine driver Franco Colapinto, adding to the private reconciliation he had already made following the controversial incident at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The incident occurred during a Safety Car restart when Colapinto locked his brakes and struck Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly. The impact sent Gasly into Norris, resulting in the retirement of all three drivers from the race. Colapinto was subsequently handed a five-place grid penalty for the upcoming Malaysian Grand Prix.

Although Norris initially apologised directly to Colapinto, he felt compelled to make his remorse public due to the intense media and social media reaction. “It was more for the wider audience,” Norris said. “I said what I wanted to, to Franco, and he’s the only one really that I need to share my opinion and share my apology with.”

Norris emphasised that he does not believe social media is the appropriate venue for apologies but acknowledged the surrounding pressure. “At the same time, there was a lot of noise in the background, so I thought it was sensible to show publicly that I had apologised,” he explained.

The McLaren driver admitted that his initial televised criticism of Colapinto did not reflect his personal standards. “I accepted that I was wrong… But because it was something I said on TV, I thought it was fair that I shared it with everyone, because they all saw it. I didn’t think it was a true value of how I hold myself,” Norris stated.

While Colapinto has also apologised for the error, he described the subsequent online backlash as “tricky” to manage, noting that hostility seems to come from every fan base. Norris, who has previously spoken out against online abuse, acknowledged the difference between passionate sport fandom and genuine harassment.

“Sadly that’s what we have to deal with… some of it is down to passion,” Norris said. “But to the extent of online abuse, death threats – all those things are far beyond being a fan of a sport or a driver or a person. There’s a line. It’s not new… social media platforms and sports need to do more to stop this kind of stuff from happening.”

On the team side, Colapinto expressed confidence that he would face no disciplinary action from Alpine. He praised team boss Flavio Briatore, stating, “Flavio is a great team leader… I always trust him with kind of stuff.” Colapinto added that the team is already looking forward, having reviewed the incident and moved past it.