Lando Norris, McLaren, Spa-Francorchamps, 2021

No points should be awarded for Belgian GP – Norris

2021 Belgian Grand Prix

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Lando Norris disagrees with the decision to award points for the curtailed Belgian Grand Prix, saying the event was “not a race.”

The FIA declared the result of the race based on a single lap of running. However, it stated points could be awarded as winner Max Verstappen had crossed the finishing line three times.

Norris said he disagreed with the decision because so little of the original, 44-lap race distance had been completed and none of it under green flag conditions.

“I don’t think any points should be awarded for today,” he said. “I think for how little we did today, X amount of racing laps, we go out and we race for X amount of the race, but to drive around behind the safety car and then for people to get points…”

Norris finished 14th and did not score points. However his McLaren team out-scored rivals Ferrari thanks to Daniel Ricciardo’s fourth place. Nonetheless, Norris does not believe points should be awarded for the race.

“Maybe I’d be saying the opposite if I was first and I’d got a good amount of points, I don’t know,” he said.

“I don’t feel like – even though it’s benefitted us today, Daniel got a good amount of points comparing to Ferrari – I don’t feel it’s a deserved race for points because it’s not a race at the end of the day.”

Valtteri Bottas, who finished two places ahead of Norris, also questioned the decision to treat the event as a regular races.

“From my side, of course, I was out of the points so I had never had the opportunity to fight for the points. So I don’t think it was a race.

“It is what it is, it’s for sure a tricky call for F1 what to do and it’s what happened.”

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2021 Belgian Grand Prix

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81 comments on “No points should be awarded for Belgian GP – Norris”

  1. The definition of a race must be changed.
    The race must include at least a lap of a real race without laps behind the Safety car, formation laps and the red flag laps.

    1. One could simply state that points are not awarded for the race, but for the result of a Grand Prix consisting of a qualifying session and a race, with either of the two elements being non-essential parts of it.

    2. Yeah, I was totally of the belie that the rule was that two racing (green flag period) laps had to be completed in a race before points could be awarded so I was very surprised when the talk about points came up. I think if F1 and the FIA learn anything from this weekend, it’s this, and that the safety car should perform a lap between Q1, Q2 and Q3 sessions to make sure the track conditions are safe.

    3. @bulgarian

      F1 and other popular tv races are only a tiny, tiny tip of how much motor racing that goes on out in the world every weekend that most F1 tv viewers are not aware of. A lot of these rules also apply to many, many other race classes that are governed the same way by FIA.
      Like everyone here, no one wanted to see it go down like this, we all wanted to see a good green flag race but this is racing and this happens as well as in other racing classes, not just F1.

      I like Lando, great personality and excellent driving ability and will be around for a long time to come BUT I’ll bet my lunch that if he scored points this weekend and was not outside of them, then we most likely wouldn’t be hearing his frustration and saying this. You certainly did not hear Verstappen or Ricciardo complaining about his points earned, but you did hear Hamilton also complain about it because he lost out on the points spread; it’s more about themselves and self preservation than anything else. The ones who gained points wise in a positive way this weekend are smiling and mostly staying quiet.

  2. Not quite disinterested, Lando?

  3. Well, we can certainly sense a conflict of interest here. But the farcical situation in which this race was pushed into leaves room for such an argument.

  4. Part of me agrees with him… part of me is happy the drivers who did well in the only competitive session of the weekend got some reward. But then, half points for no race at all seems like too many.

    Maybe add a line to the regulations for next season – no racing laps = 1/4 points, or something like that.

    1. Points are not awarded for qualifying so no points should be awarded for not racing. It is ridiculous and not fair at all on drivers that may have set their car up for a better race pace or were given grid penalties etc. I am happy Russel and Williams got lots of points but it is not the way I wanted him to get them.

  5. It´s Karma.

    I see it as a kind of poetic justice after first Sir Lewis and then Botsass played bumpercars with our national hero Max in the two previous races and stole many WC points off him.

    1. You are completely missing the point. This should be an issue not tied to who you support. Doing three laps behind a safety car should not pay points.

      Karma is completely made up and has no bearing on reality.

      1. @ppzzus three laps under the safety car did not pay half points. 3 rounds of qualy plus paid half points. Seems fair to me considering the challenge if this qualy.

        1. I disagree. Teams approach qualifying in different ways. Some will sacrifice position for better race pace etc. So they have been punished. Norris was punished for crashing in a q3 that should not have started in the first place.

          1. Q3 became very drivable, hence the results.
            Lando came on track to quick and paid the price.btw, it was just a driver error in regards with the crash.

        2. Qualifying doesn’t pay points. Racing does.

          Zero racing happened.

          1. @ppzzus No, the order they cross the finish line pays points. If every car in hungary somehow crashed coming out of the pitlane last race, Hamilton would still have won even though he didn’t “race” anyone.

      2. I disagree. Points are awarded for the final standings at the end of the weekend. Normally, this is the result of the race, but it takes into account qualifying. If no points are awarded, it basically makes the whole weekend pointless (in more ways than one). A team who hadn’t even run a car all weekend would be in a better position than anyone who took part.

        1. So what poetic justice donwe get for all of verstappens crashes? I am not sure anyone who comments like you is actually an F1 fan…

        2. Sorry, for the reply posing on your comment. I clicked the reply for a comment above and it for some reason attached it to yours ..

    2. Obvious troll is obvious.

    3. Karma is just something humans invented so that they don’t feel so out of control. It doesn’t exist.

    4. You’re wrong to say that it was karma.

    5. Not really. Assuming karma is at play, Max would have made a bigger dent into Lewis’ lead if the race ran its full distance. If anything, this result favours Mercedes as they lost less.

      1. Unlikely. Hamilton is significantly faster racing in the rain than Verstappen and would probably have won had it been a full length race. Max got lucky this time.

        1. Faster in the rain?
          He lost about a second when situations were drivable.
          He almost lost q2
          Lewis is good in the rain, but ver is better.

          1. Reading must be hard for you. Lewis is faster racing in the rain. He would have passed Max fairly soon had there been a race.

      2. What are you talking about?
        First of all,max was partly to blame for the crash in Silverstone.
        And secondly,Lewis was unlucky not to win in Hungary.
        A bad strategy call from his team cost him the win.
        And yesterday,he had a great chance to win the race,as Lewis is normally very strong in wet races.

  6. Coventry Climax
    29th August 2021, 20:19

    Thank you, mr. Masi, and the FIA, and Liberty, for gradually making F1 the laughing stock of motorsports.
    It’s becoming a sports for pussies.
    All about whining about curves being too dangerous, conditions being too dangerous, overtakes being too dangerous and what not. There used to be a time when F1 was for men, and even then we would say that in the wet, men were separated from the boys.
    And then awarding points? I’d be happy if they awarded points for qualifying – effectively, they’ve selectively (highest bidders get it) started with that, thanks to the sprint/qualifying format. But this was no such weekend.
    It’s become a complete mockery.

    1. …says a man raging about being unable to sit on his coucg for 2 hours to watch other men risk their life while drinking a pint. Please tell us more about what real men are like.

      1. @undercut677 Save it already with the “risk their life” narrative. It’s completely mundane and pathetic. Risk is major part of their job and they know it. As is with jet and commercial airplane pilots. If they can’t handle it, they may as well quit.

        Plus, did you listen to Martin Brundle’s commentary during the event? He repeated several times “We (the old drivers) have raced in much worse conditions”. And guess what, this is true. What is also true is that there was no death in wet races until Bianchi’s accident. Safety should be a big concern inarguably, but 1 incident in, let’s say, 40 years, just not justify the over-castration of F1 that we are witnessing nowadays.

        1. @f1-fan Pilots regularly cancel flights when the risk is too high. This is something they are trained to do so thank you for proving my point.

          There gave been several hospitalizations at Spa this year and a death 2 years ago in conditions nowhere close to today’s. The drivers said it was too dangerous. People, no matter their job, should not accept this much risk for your entertainment. Grow up.

          1. @undercut677 You didn’t make any point at all. You used Ad-hominem argument accompanied with the general opinion of “people risk their lifes” blah-blah. The other things that you typed now are completely irrelevant with F1. As for the “danger” and the “grow up” parts, you better say these to Martin Blundle too.

          2. @f1-fan Sure I did, I made the same point you did and showed that just because certain jobs like pilots or F1 drivers are risky does not mean those risks don’t have a limit.

            Also, that was not an ad hominem since I didn’t say you were wrong because you need to grow up. It was a conclusion from the fact that you need other men to take too high of a risk for your entertainment. That is why you need to grow up. If Bundle shares your opinion, then he must also grow up.

          3. @undercut677 Dude, are you for real? You said “thank you for proving my point” and I said that you didn’t make any point at all and you used Ad-hominem argument. This was for your answer to the original poster. You did a personal attack to him, without making any argument to all these things he typed except for the mundane one.

            But you are doing this deliberately on your answers, you are good at twisting things and fitting these to your narrative. I never said anythiong and I don’t care for the entertainment part that you keep repeating, saying “If Brundle shares your opinion”. I am the one who shares Brundle’s opinion, that’s why I mentioned him. As an old driver that had raced in worse conditions, he wanted the race to be restarted. So, save it already with the “entertainment” and “grow up” BS that you keep using.

          4. @f1-fan its not that hard,

            You said: “Risk is major part of their job and they know it. As is with jet and commercial airplane pilots. If they can’t handle it, they may as well quit”

            You ignored the fact that pilots are taught not to fly when the risk is too high therefore provig my point that F1 drivers should decide not to race when the risk is too high and rendering your posturing meaningless.

            Who cares who shares whose opinions. You both need to grow up.

          5. @undercut677…and here we go again.

            Although I shouldn’t bother, let me say something for it. Your argument is completely flawed. Pilots aren’t “taught not to fly”, they use their experience and the thousands of hours of practice in the simulator, and the simulated worst case scenarios there, and this pays off when their instict, and most importantly the data, tells them to abort takeoff. They have the power on their hands, the responsibility for 300 people on their plane and they are authorized to do it.

            This is not the case with F1 drivers. They are not practicing on how to handle and avoid risks but they spend hours in the simulator on how they will go faster and on the edge, regardless of the conditions. Plus, they do not have authorization for anything. So, the whole “Pilots regularly cancel flights when the risk is too high. This is something they are trained to do so thank you for proving my point” and “my point that F1 drivers should decide not to race when the risk is too high” belongs to the garbage bin.

            I don’t ignore facts, as I said, it’s you the one who keeps twisting things and facts, trying to fit these to your flawed narrative.

        2. There’s risk, and there’s unacceptable risk. Today’s conditions were definitely an unacceptable risk. Using your analogy, it would be like a pilot trying to fly with a known defect that would guarantee a horrible accident. F1 is inherently dangerous, moreso in the wet. But in these sorts of conditions, racing would be incredibly stupid.

          1. @tommy-c agree with that

            Plus, It’s not just inherently dangerous for the drivers, we already had a couple of drivers sent to the hospital this weekend, so there was already a precedence established and still fresh in the minds of who are running the races. On top of that, while drivers are much safer now a days when an accident occurs, the same can’t be said for their uber expensive chassis and PU’s in a season of new cost budgets and limited amount of replacement parts. The impact of a couple of crashes (very likely to have happened for silly reasons) could crush a team or two’s whole season. That would also be a big tragedy for fans of those teams.

            PS>We also need to remember the safety of the marshals out there.

            I have to say I don’t like the points given out but Masi did not really have a choice, he can’t alter the rules in FIA rule book, he can only follow them. Plus all the implications of the big grid penalties that were applied for last race errors and use new extra PU’s would be huge if this race was canceled, I don’t believe they could be carried over. There would be an entirely new whole set of very angry fans and teams screaming bloody murder like the ones you can read immediately above. It was a no win situation for Masi.
            Plus, You didn’t hear Red Bull complain like Hamilton did but if it was the reverse with RB losing the same points, they would barking very loudly while Hamilton would most likely be silent and thanking the fans even more.

          2. Pilots and race car drivers are totally different professions. Pilots are trained to safely bring their planes (and passengers) to their destination. Race car drivers are trained to win races. When a pilot faces a decision whether to proceed or not he/she is expected to take the path of safety. When an F1 driver is racing they are trying to pass the other cars and win the race. These are not comparable things. This is a false equivalency.

        3. While I agree with many of your points, you have to consider that even most of the drivers today felt that it was too dangerous to race. It’s their opinions that matter the most.

        4. Plus, did you listen to Martin Brundle’s commentary during the event? He repeated several times “We (the old drivers) have raced in much worse conditions”. And guess what, this is true. What is also true is that there was no death in wet races until Bianchi’s accident. Safety should be a big concern inarguably, but 1 incident in, let’s say, 40 years, just not justify the over-castration of F1 that we are witnessing nowadays.

          @f1-fan It’s a very dodgy comparison imo – back then, the cars were not as fast, and there were different circumstances. Think of it this way: This rain in Monaco would be a joke. You could easily race there with that rainfall. So it’s not just one variable.
          Now consider Spa, especially Raidillon, a corner that has had several crashes in the very same weekend across multiple events in multiple series, a corner that’s taken at incredibly high speed at the brink of spinning out since it’s slightly banked against its flow. Now make it wet. We’ve seen what happened to Norris’ car the day before.
          I don’t think the issue here is that the rain makes things too unsafe – it’s more the fact that the cars have gotten so fast that any crash could have fatal consequences. The crashes that happened back then – putting evolving safety standards aside – are a joke to the crashes happening in recent years. Let’s hope the slower 2022 car is a good step into a direction where overall racing is safer so more risks can be taken.

    2. And to this day you still don’t understand my opinion on Romain’s crash. And you probably never will understand my opinion…ever.

      1. Coventry Climax
        29th August 2021, 23:10

        Don’t even remember your opinion, but I assume I said something you didn’t like, like my opinion? And apparently you still don’t understand that either, but hey, that’s what they’re opinions for. Even worse is, nowadays scientifically proven facts are done away with as opinions too. Thank you mr. Putin, mr. Trump, mr. Xi (Jinping), mr. Erdogan and so many others. Hope you’re not one of them.

        Oh, by the way, we also used to say: Football/Soccer needs one ball, motorsports needs two. Unfortunately -my opinion-, that’s not true anymore.
        When they stopped the race today, Verstappen said ‘it’s not to bad out there, but ok’. Regarding Eau Rouge/Raidillon Hamilton said ‘they don’t need to change it’. But what do they know, right?

        1. Brooooo. Am I? Nah mate!

    3. I 100% agree with you Coventry Climax!
      Somebody recently made a great observation that F1 is becoming dangerously specialized leading to a point it gets crippled by anything.
      The cars don’t work when there’s wind, don’t work when there’s rain, when there’s bumbs, when the temparature ain’t right, this tarmac is too rough, that tarmac is too slippery, those corners are too fast, those straights are too long etc. It has become a JOKE. F1 is no longer a motosport, it’s a para-motosport, because the cars are incapable of doing what cars do.

      1. I think this sort of view is really just because we understand physics better now. Fangio’s cars understeered horribly cause the centre of gravity was in a terrible position. Clark’s cars slid wildly cause they had no downforce. Andretti’s Lotus couldn’t ride kerbs because it’d break the low pressure seal and so on. The point is, the more we learn and develop, the more problems we understand and need to resolve. I think the availability of information to the layperson now days just means it seems worse but it really isn’t. Sure F1 cars will have an optimum window but it doesn’t mean they’re terrible outside of that. They’re still the most incredible circuit racing machines in the world.

  7. petebaldwin (@)
    29th August 2021, 20:21

    50/50 on it. Points for no actual racing seems a bit strange but then going away with no points having done qualifying and managing to get pole also seems a bit unfair. Overall, half points seems the best solution – outside of just doing the race tomorrow morning…

  8. This pointsgate is the only really annoying thing about the (non) race.

  9. Does this mean the ticket holders for the race won’t get any refund at all? If so it’s pretty disgraceful.

  10. Points shouldn’t have been awarded by 100%. (If anyone is asking me why I’m using “100%” a lot, it was since the incident between Bottas and Russell back in Imola which prompted me to say that it was a clear racing incident. BTW Imola didn’t age well.)

  11. How can they get any points if there was no racing?
    The conditions beeing what they were, nobody can say canceling the race was the wrong choice, but let’s be honest about it, not pretend we just held a race, and worthy drivers won points on merit.
    A race not held has no points

    1. Coventry Climax
      29th August 2021, 23:17

      Call me nobody then.

  12. Should of raced on bikes or run it, these are athletes right?

  13. No race = no points, it’s as simple as that. This is the FIRST time points are awarded for a non-race in the normal format (excluding the stupid sprint races). Well if absolute safety comes first (cannot be done), ALL ‘races’ should be done the same way. Since pole never has guaranteed a win or a certain position – this ‘event’ (there was NO RACE remember) – NO points should be a awarded, never.

  14. Should have done as Steiner suggested and race tomorrow. What happened today was farcical.

    1. This was worse than USA 2004.

  15. He dislikes a decision that goes against his interests…woah

  16. I agree with Norris. There shouldn’t be points for that. There was no ‘race’, Not even 1 corner of one where cars could overtake.

    Rule really should be that there has to be 1 complete lap done containing green flag conditions for it to be defined as a race.

    1. Coventry Climax
      29th August 2021, 23:15

      That won’t happen, as it more and more seems like the FIA want to keep a backdoor to influence as they please.
      But it would be nice -and fun- if the teams would issue a technical directive with exactly your suggestion.

  17. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    29th August 2021, 23:20

    It is what it is at this point but it just feels awkward to see someone win a race with no racing.

    It’ll be interesting if either the WDC or WCC are decided by 5 points in favor of Red Bull.

    It’ll also be interesting to see if the McLaren/Ferrari battle is decided by 4.5 points.

  18. Do the rules say points must be awarded, or is that at the discretion of race officials? I think no actual race no points. The rules should be revised to allow for a race actually taking place under full race conditions imo.

  19. Sam (@undercut677)
    30th August 2021, 2:25

    @f1-fan

    “They are not practicing on how to handle and avoid risks but they spend hours in the simulator on how they will go faster and on the edge, regardless of the conditions. Plus, they do not have authorization for anything. So, the whole “Pilots regularly cancel flights when the risk is too high. This is something they are trained to do so thank you for proving my point” and “my point that F1 drivers should decide not to race when the risk is too high” belongs to the garbage bin.”

    You somehow managed to be 100% factually incorrect about everything you just said. They do practice to minimize and avoid certain risks, have never simulated these conditions and they can decide when not to race because they are not your puppets or slaves. They are human beings that can 100% decide not to race when the risk is too high.

    Grow up, stop thinking these drivers owe you something and just stop talking because most of what you say is absolute rubbish.

    1. @undercut677

      my point that F1 drivers should decide not to race

      they can decide when not to race

      Last time that I checked, it was FIA who decided on whether they should race or not, not drivers themselves, as you imply. So, if according to you a driver himself can decide not to race, this brings us back to my initial argument, “If they can’t handle it, they may as well quit”. So, do as many gymnastics as you like, back, front, flip-flop etc. trying to cover the BS that you typed.

      1. @f1-fan

        Niki Lauda thinks you are a clown.

  20. Not that I am anticipating anyone to be reading down to Comment no. 53, but what the hexk is going to happen to the Predictions Championship.? Do we get half points.?
    I for one sat all the way through the hours of TV coverage (with a little help from FF) so shouldn’t I be rewarded for my time.?
    With Perez out, wouldn’t that move Alonso and some others up a place.?

  21. No. 54. This should stir things up …..
    Fastest Lap: Mazepin (Haas) 3:18.016 (Lap 2)
    Wonder if he will put that on his CV.?

  22. It was clearly a commercial decision to award points so that the 2 championship contenders come closer in the championship.

    I am sure that if Lewis had got pole, this would have become a non-race for 2 reasons: 1) The championship contender grow further apart, 2) Lewis’ 100th win to be one like this would be a commercial fiasco for F1 :)

  23. What about Sainz? Gasly? Vettel? Leclerc? They ALL said they should not have “won” any points. Nah, let’s bash Lewis! 🤦‍♂️

    1. Meant as reply… 🤦‍♂️

    2. What about the two buttons you can’t recognize?

      1. Dave, Dave, Dave. Are you hurting sweetheart? Pull yourself together. Twot.

        1. You scored an own goal again? Embarrassing.

        2. dAve, DaVE, DavE. ArE yOu HURtING sweEtHEart? PUlL YOurSELF tOgetHeR. tWoT.

          Bro, shut the hell up. Now what did you say again, sucker? The hell does this stupid word “tWoT” mean? An alternate of the tw-t word, huh? F— you.

        3. Yeah you still can’t kill me. I win 8-0. You lose 0-8. You can’t kill me at all, and you never will be able to kill me with all of your power. My kills/killed ratio is 100-0 so come get me.

        4. And one more thing: Say that “tW0T” word again and I’ll obliterate and destroy the hell out of you next time you try to killshot me. BOOM, KILLED YOU AND DESTROYED YOU.

  24. I agree.

  25. What they should have did instead of the race is hold a qualifying session with one car on track at a time. This would have solved the spray issue and let fans watch something. Maybe start in reverse championship order and give each driver 2 timed laps. At the end, issue the half points.

  26. DeanR is a loser and sucker.

  27. Fully agree.

  28. Daily reminder: DeanR failed to killshot me because he has zero kills. How embarrassing for this punk, huh?

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