Lando Norris summoned by FIA stewards over two Miami GP practice incidents

Lando Norris was summoned before the stewards for two separate incidents during practice for the 2025 Miami Grand Prix.

The McLaren man saw the stewards twice ahead of the Miami Grand Prix sprint qualifying session on Friday evening, having been involved in two separate moments requiring the stewards’ attention – albeit without the British driver having done anything wrong in either scenario.

Lando Norris summoned over incidents in FP1

The first incident came just a few minutes into the session, with Norris returning to the pits and gently removing two hand tools from his cockpit, torches that are used to illuminate the dark confines of the wheel well area.

A team representative of McLaren was summoned on the grounds of an “alleged breach of Article 34.14 c) of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations –Potential release of Car 4 in an unsafe condition at 12:34.”

The regulations state cars must not be released from a garage or pit stop position in a “way that could endanger pitlane personnel or another driver”.

If the car is deemed to have been released in an unsafe condition during practice, qualifying, or a sprint qualifying, the stewards do have the option of imposing a grid penalty of whatever proportion they consider appropriate.

With the alleged infringement taking place in practice for the Grand Prix, Norris was at risk of falling foul of a grid penalty for Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Having heard from McLaren’s representative and reviewing video and radio evidence, the team was issued a warning by the stewards with no further penalty warranted despite the conclusion the car had been released in unsafe condition.

“The team admitted in the hearing that they made a genuine mistake by leaving two torches/flashlights in the cockpit when releasing [Norris] from the garage,” read their statement.

“However, the driver realised directly after entering the track that some equipment was in the car and was able to secure both parts shortly after leaving the pit exit before returning slowly to the pits.

“The Stewards determined that the incident qualifies as a car being released in an unsafe condition, but the driver realised the problem extremely quickly and reacted adequately to prevent any unsafe or dangerous situation. This is taken into account in mitigation and a Warning to the Competitor is issued.”

Separately, Norris was also involved in a separate incident as he encountered Esteban Ocon’s Haas with a vast difference in speed approaching Turn 17.

The French driver changed direction approaching the braking zone, with Norris forced to hit the brakes in order to ensure the safety of both drivers.

Haas was given a €7,500 fine for the incident, with Ocon given a warning.

“[Ocon] stated that he had not received adequate warning of the approach of [Norris],” read the stewards’ verdict.

“He was being given technical instructions via team radio while making way for another car before being warned about [Norris] approaching just moments before the incident. The team representative confirmed that the team failed to warn the driver in time.

“The Stewards determined that the responsibility for the incident lies mainly with the team as they failed to inform their driver about the oncoming car. Therefore a financial penalty is imposed on the team based on previous cases. However, notwithstanding the very late warning and the high-speed differential between both cars, [Ocon] contributed to the situation by moving off line extremely late instead of staying on the racing line as the impeding had already happened and the late move increased the potential of a dangerous crash.

“Therefore, a warning to the driver is issued.”

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