“That Wouldn’t Be Accepted by the FIA”: Lando Norris & Co. Gear Up to Launch Attack on Alpine as Esteban Ocon’s $85,000 Disturbing Element Invites Scrutiny

The FIA is usually quick to wave the meatball flag at a driver when it sees damage to their car or an element that doesn’t meet racing standards and can pose a danger to other drivers. But that didn’t happen during the Canadian GP when Lando Norris was chasing down Esteban Ocon—with a wobbly rear wing—lap after lap and only saw the wobble get worse. Neither did the FIA take any intervention, nor did Alpine even attempt to bring Ocon into the pits to check the wing.

Alpine brought a revised rear wing to Montreal, and the one on the back of Ocon’s car looked like it was hanging on by a thread. The FIA approached Alpine and pointed it out during the race, but the team was confident it wouldn’t fall off. Even though Alpine was convinced, McLaren still isn’t and plans to bring it up at the next Sporting Advisory Committee as a concern for security.

Lando Norris & Co. raise security concerns about Ocon’s rear wing

Lando Norris was chasing Esteban Ocon for P8 while they were both part of a DRS train behind Alex Albon in P7. And every time Norris got close to Ocon, he could see his rear wing vigorously wobble. Once he realized it was only worsening, he intimated his team and asked them to look. But no action was taken. Alpine was confident it wouldn’t fall off, but McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella believes it was a conflict of interest. While competing, deciding between maximizing one’s result or keeping others safe becomes tricky.

In an interview after the race, Stella said, as quoted by motorsport.nextgen-auto.com, “I think it’s a debate that will deserve more time, and I’m sure it will come up again at the next meeting of the Sporting Advisory Committee.” [translated via Google] McLaren is ready to bring it up and demand answers from Alpine. He added that Lando pointed out that it’s not normal for the wing to shake so much, which could only mean something was wrong. 

“That wouldn’t be accepted by the FIA, nor by the team itself. I’m sure the thing doesn’t work as designed. We’ll be sure to ask the question what they thought in security terms of the situation,” said Stella. He was also surprised that the Alpine—which has become faster over the past few weeks—couldn’t overtake Albon’s Williams even on fresher tires. He believes whatever was wrong with the rear wing affected the Alpine’s performance.

Read More: After a Frustrated Confession, Lando Norris Urges McLaren To Step Their Game Up Before the Next Race in Austria

While Ocon’s rear wing’s wobbly dance surprised Norris and McLaren during the race, something else had him shocked after the race.

Norris was penalized for “unsportsmanlike behavior”

After the Safety Car period ended, Lando Norris was given a five-second penalty for unsportsmanlike behavior. When the team informed him that the FIA had awarded him a time penalty, and he asked why, his engineer refused to tell him the reason during the race. After he got out of the car, he was told that he was going unnecessarily slowly behind the SC when the team told him it was double-stacking Piastri and him.

Piastri being the lead car, the stewards noted that Norris was going slower than his delta and equated it to him driving slow because of the double-stack. And because of this, it called him unsportsmanlike. F1 broadcaster Ted Kravitz said, “It’s like giving a penalty to a puppy for doing a whoopsie in the park, he’s the sweetest guy on the grid.” Because of the penalty, Norris got demoted from P9 to P13 after the race.

Lando Norris and McLaren hope to sort out the security concerns regarding Alpine’s rear wing before the Austrian GP in two weeks. Do you think Alpine should’ve brought Ocon in to check his wing, or did it do the right thing by maximizing its points by keeping him out?

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