Russell and Verstappen defend Colapinto after Baku crash, calling race ban talk too harsh

George Russell won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku on Sunday, but the race’s defining moment came on lap 36 when Franco Colapinto locked up on the dusty inside line into Turn 1 during a safety-car restart, collected Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly and eliminated both drivers — along with McLaren’s Lando Norris — in a single incident.

Norris was unsparing in his verdict afterwards, calling on the FIA to consider a one-race ban for what he described as careless driving. “I think the FIA should be more strict and start handing out bans for this kind of stuff,” Norris said. “It’s careless from people. It 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.”

Russell, who took the chequered flag ahead of Max Verstappen, offered a more sympathetic reading of the incident. “I think that’s too harsh, personally,” the Mercedes driver said. “Safety car restarts, cold tyres — a very small mistake can have big consequences. And from what I saw today, that’s what it looked like. It was a small error that had a big consequence. I think race bans should come from drivers intentionally doing something very dangerous and very reckless. So I think it was unfortunate.”

Verstappen, who lost last year’s Austrian Grand Prix to a first-lap collision with Kimi Antonelli, echoed that measured tone. “As long as the driver that caused it is aware of what he did and apologised, right? A small mistake or misjudgement, you lock up. It’s on the inside, low grip, and then I guess it’s a bit unfortunate that it involves so many cars. It’s not nice for anyone involved, but like George said, I think a race ban probably is a bit much.”

Podium finisher Isack Hadjar, who claimed third on his return from injury, pointed to the Baku City Circuit’s notoriously low-grip surface as a broader contributing factor. “From my side, I think the track is not good enough,” the Frenchman said. “You move out of the racing line, it starts to be very bumpy. It’s hard to generate temperature behind the safety car.”

Hadjar’s observation was borne out by the number of lock-ups recorded across the field on the 6km street circuit, where the lack of grip off the racing line had already deterred drivers from attempting overtakes into Turn 1 throughout the afternoon. The incident cost Alpine what would have been a likely double points finish, with Gasly and Colapinto both retiring on the spot.