Why Lando Norris was given a penalty for unsportsmanlike behavior in Canada, according to F1 pundit

F1 pundit Scott Mitchell-Malm claims Lando Norris was given a penalty for unsportsmanlike behavior as he negatively impacted Charles Leclerc and Alex Albon's race safety car restart in Canada.

The Briton was seen creating a lot of space between him and the safety car ahead of the restart as McLaren had planned to double-stack their drivers.

While Norris would have been usually noted for driving unnecessarily slowly under safety car circumstances, the McLaren driver was slapped with a five-second time penalty for 'unsportsmanlike' behavior as he delayed Leclerc and Albon behind him.

Speaking about Lando Norris's bizarre penalty in Canada, Scott Mitchell-Malm told The Race podcast:

"Basically what Lando was doing was he backed up a little bit to create a gap to his teammate Oscar Piastri because McLaren wanted to double stack under the safety car. He's given himself quite a big chunk of space there."

"That in itself would not have been a problem if Norris hadn't had Leclerc and Albon behind him, which turned 'driving unnecessarily slowly' into 'impeding another car unfairly'."

Lando Norris admitted that he had no real idea why he was slapped with a harsh penalty for his actions in Montreal. However, his team believes it is due to the FIA's new stewarding standards.

McLaren claims Lando Norris's penalty in Canada was due to new stewarding standards

McLaren believes Norris's penalty in the 2023 Canadian GP was due to FIA's new style of stewarding. The Briton received a five-second penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, dropping him from P9 to P13 at the end of the race.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella wondered if the penalty was due to the FIA trying to set a new precedent in the coming times. Stella said, as per The Race:

“We spoke to the stewards right after the race because we thought these kinds of speeds under a safety car or even a virtual safety car shouldn’t be the reason for an infringement."

"We understand the position of the stewards, we understand that they may want to set a precedent so there’s a kind of new way of interpreting the way you have to drive under the safety car.”

Meanwhile, Lando Norris expressed confusion over his penalty in Canada, saying:

“Plenty of times you go slow under a virtual safety car. If I get a penalty there, I should get a penalty for the last three years as well. So should everyone else."

With the Woking-based team showing signs of improvement, it will be interesting to watch how the Briton's season progresses.