Lando Norris under fire from government official after ‘race ban’ call

Lando Norris has attracted attention after being punted out of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in an incident instigated by Franco Colapinto.

Among the figures to have gotten involved with the saga are Argentina’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, plus former Argentina international football star Sergio Aguero.

Lando Norris called for Franco Colapinto race ban

Norris cut a figure of frustration after being eliminated from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix through no fault of his own.

In the wrong place at the wrong time as Colapinto misjudged Turn 1 at the Safety Car restart, Norris was eliminated in the collision alongside Pierre Gasly.

Colapinto later retired his damaged Alpine as a double points finish evaporated.

In the immediate aftermath, Norris told PlanetF1.com and others that “the FIA should be more strict and start handing out bans for this kind of stuff.”

He added: “It’s just careless from people. Costs a lot of money. All my parts are in the bin now. People should just get banned, because that’s not driving that deserves to be in Formula 1.”

Norris doubled down on his call for “at least a one-race ban” to come the Argentine’s way.

The incident has attracted a fierce reaction online. However, for a government official and an icon of Argentine football to get involved, was unexpected.

Pablo Quirno, Argentina’s Foreign Minister, published an X post which featured an image of Norris and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri colliding at the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix.

The caption attached to the post reads: “Sure, Lando Norris called for a penalty for the driver who crashed into Oscar Piastri in Montreal 2025.

“Ah, no… right.”

Then came a surprise appearance from Sergio Aguero.

He headed to the comments section on a week-old Norris Instagram post.

A multi-time Premier League winner with Manchester City, and also the club’s record goal-scorer, Aguero posted a GIF of himself shaking his head and wagging his finger.

Aguero also made over 100 appearances for the Argentina national football team, scoring 41 goals.

Sticking with the football theme, social media personality Pablito Castillo, who has over seven million Instagram followers, posted a GIF on the same Norris post.

Said GIF featured Argentine international footballer Lisandro Martinez celebrating, touching the Argentina badge in the process.

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Alpine moved following the Baku saga to condemn fresh online abuse directed towards “one of our own drivers” and the wider Formula 1 community.

Ahead of the Azerbaijan race weekend, Gasly had spoken out against the abuse which he and his family had received, following a team orders mix-up in Madrid.

Colapinto acknowledged and denounced the treatment of his teammate.

The 23-year-old, from Buenos Aires, received a 10-second penalty, converted to a five-place grid drop, following an FIA stewards’ investigation into the Baku incident.

He will serve that grid penalty at the next race in which he competes. That is due to be this week’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, as Alpine executive advisor and de facto team principal Flavio Briatore weighs up what “action” to take in the aftermath of Baku.

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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