Lando Norris Comments on Red Bull’s Tape Removal Incident
Lando Norris has broken his silence on the Red Bull grid tape removal saga at the United States Grand Prix last week, reports BritPanorama.
The McLaren driver expressed amusement over Red Bull receiving a £43,500 fine for attempting to remove the positioning tape from the pit wall—tape that he was not even using. The incident occurred shortly after the vehicles departed for the formation lap at the Circuit of the Americas.
The stewards penalized Red Bull for trying to pull off a large piece of tape that McLaren had affixed for their driver to align properly. The FIA determined that team personnel should have been aware of the regulations, despite Red Bull’s claim that the member had not seen officials attempting to prevent the action.
Norris noted, “I didn’t use the tape. So it was extra amusing because I didn’t need it. We just put it there in case, so it made it extra funny because they got a penalty for it, and I didn’t even need it.” He revealed that this was not an isolated incident, as Red Bull had previously attempted such actions at Monza and other races.
Ironically, the whole operation turned out to be unnecessary; Norris had already secured his starting place without the tape. “It’s just a backup,” he explained, reflecting on how Red Bull had previously tried and failed to remove the positioning aids. “Little side quests, I guess, for the teams to entertain themselves. But we were the ones laughing about it,” he added.
Interestingly, the £43,500 fine resulted more from the team member entering a restricted area at Gate 1 than from the tape removal itself. Norris contrasted his position with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who won both the Sprint and main race during the US Grand Prix weekend. Verstappen referred to the whole situation as “a little silly thing that has been going on for a while.” He added, “It doesn’t even have anything to do with the tape. You can’t hold up the procedure of closing the gate.”
As the Mexico Grand Prix approaches, Norris, having finished second in the US, is just 12 points ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri, who placed fifth. The race is set to commence at 8pm on Sunday.
This latest episode serves as a reminder of how even marginal antics weave into the competitive fabric of Formula 1, where the boundaries of compliance and creativity constantly blur, making each race weekend not just a contest of speed but of strategy and wit.
