Lando Norris was one of several drivers whose qualifying session was disrupted when a damaged advertising hoarding became stuck in their car.
Charles Leclerc and Logan Sargeant also had to have debris from a shredded advertisement removed from their cars.Advertisements are stuck to the barriers at several points around the Monaco track. However they have become damaged as drivers touch the barriers while seeking to improve their lap times.
Norris’ first run in Q1 was spoiled when his car picked up part of one banner. He had to switch to a second new set of soft tyres to ensure he progressed to Q2, which meant he did not have the luxury of a second set when he reached Q3.
“I’m happy with fourth in the end,” he told the official F1 site. “We had a scrappy Q1.
“I got some of the debris that was on the track and all the stickers that have been coming off. That’s something that shouldn’t be happening in Formula 1. That ruined my Q1 and made it a lot more stressful than what it needed to be.”
Leclerc also had to pit to have a piece of the banner removed from his front wing. Another piece stuck to the front-right of Sargeant’s Williams.
Norris was pleased with his qualifying effort under the circumstances, which left him two places behind team mate Oscar Piastri.
“In Q2 and Q3 I was happy. I made some good progress, obviously not everything that I needed.
“Oscar did a very good job so hats off to him. I think as a team it’s a good day for us. To be second and fourth was probably a bit better than we were expecting, so I think it’s a good sign.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2024 Monaco Grand Prix
- Formula 1 will fix red flag rule loophole which ruined Monaco GP – Domenicali
- Magnussen ‘could have backed off but didn’t’ in Monaco crash, says team boss
- Ocon defends his driving after ‘hurtful abuse’ over Monaco GP crash with Gasly
- How the midfield’s hottest team mate rivalry boiled over
- “He’s really dangerous”: Unheard driver radio from F1’s slow show in Monaco
Stuart B
25th May 2024, 18:59
Crash barriers are not advertising hoardings and it’s been getting worse and worse the pay couple of years. Nothing was learnt from Sainz accident in Japan when a massive piece ended up plastered across the car of Gasly resulting in him not being able to see. Barriers need to be barriers and nothing more, it has to stop.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
25th May 2024, 19:44
Or paint the advert onto the barrier?
If the advertiser is desperate enough to promote their product, then make them pay a bit more for a proper paint job rather than a cheap nasty sticker.
Jere (@jerejj)
26th May 2024, 5:34
Stuart B I struggle to comprehend what Sainz-Gasly incident you’re referring to & no worse or overkill than in the more distant past.
@nullapax Painting is effectively impossible because everything is temporary, not to mention Monaco also hosts FE & Historic GP.
Stuart B
26th May 2024, 12:25
@jerejj https://youtu.be/GZzpYlAOJfs?si=rybzLhSrH79TMfu9
This should clear it up for you and it’s not overkill. A barrier should be just that, not somewhere to rest big cardboard adverts against or for placing stickers. It’s an increasing problem under Liberty as they chase more revenue.
Asd
25th May 2024, 19:40
Ha! I actually was thinking about how the banners were attached looking at the the 1st corner and realized it were just big stickers stretched and put onto the barriers, which are essentialy stacked guard rails that do not offer much flat surface, so even a stronger gist of wind could possibly dettach them.
Bullfrog
25th May 2024, 20:19
This never happened when Monaco had its own local advertisers.
Now we have armco with Aramco on it, with cheap scruffy banners right at the apex where the cars touch the barrier, so they get shredded within a few minutes. Duh!
Jere (@jerejj)
26th May 2024, 5:31
Although even pre-2023, armco barriers featured advertising banners.
Jere (@jerejj)
26th May 2024, 5:31
I couldn’t have guessed what caused Norris’ late pit entry in Q1, but indeed unacceptable, especially since the matter was brought up in the briefing, yet no one bothered to do anything in time for qualifying.
cdfemke (@cdfemke)
26th May 2024, 11:42
Commerce before safety before sports