Lando Norris hits out at “silliest rule” that held him back at United States GP

Lando Norris isn't happy about F1's track limits rules following the United States Grand Prix

Lando Norris
Lando Norris

Lando Norris has criticised F1’s track limits rules following the United States Grand Prix.

When running behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the battle for second place at the Circuit of the Americas, Norris picked up three warnings for track limits.

In F1, a driver receives a black-and-white flag after the third strike for track limits.

 A fourth offence results in a five-second time penalty.

Norris managed to avoid a fourth strike by driving more conservatively during the remainder of the race.

One of Norris’ three warnings came during his fight with Leclerc, where he was pushed slightly off the track by the Ferrari driver.

Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris
Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris

Norris was unhappy with the current track limits regulations, labelling them as “one of the silliest rules that we have”.

“I mean, the places which were easy to go off were Turn 9 over the crest of the hill, and then the last two corners,” Norris said.

“I think I was on three strikes by like lap 10. So I didn’t put myself in the best position. But then one of my strikes was because I was racing,” Norris explained during the post-race press conference.

“You know, I think that’s one of the silliest rules that we have — we’re invited to try and race, but if you race too much, you get a penalty for it. And I got a track limits [strike] for trying to go around the outside and losing time to Charles.

“So, doesn’t really make much sense in terms of going racing. But it definitely made my life that little bit trickier, especially Turn 19, with the wind, like Max said, it was pretty inconsistent. 

It’s difficult to just be always on the limit and not make mistakes — which I obviously made a couple too many of, too early on. But yeah, a little bit more cautious at the end because I knew I couldn’t afford a penalty. But I took the risks I needed to.”

Is the momentum with Norris?

Norris’ P2 finish at COTA puts him just 14 points behind teammate Oscar Piastri with five rounds to go.

Since his DNF at the Dutch Grand Prix, Norris has finished ahead of Piastri at four consecutive events.

The US GP was reminiscent of 2024, where Norris had a significant edge over Piastri pace-wise.

The F1 championship leader finished a disappointing fifth, fending off Mercedes’ George Russell in the closing laps.

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