Monaco qualifying saw drivers furious as loose advertising banners disrupted sessions, prompting calls for immediate action. Norris, Leclerc, and Stella voiced their concerns ahead of the Grand Prix.
Lando Norris has called on Formula 1 to implement a “better solution” for the advertising banners that got caught under cars during Monaco Grand Prix qualifying.
Norris was one of three drivers affected, with banners being torn off and sucked under their cars.
Charles Leclerc, who secured pole position, and Logan Sargeant were the other unfortunate victims whose qualifying sessions were disrupted by this issue.
Norris Incident at Mirabeau Nearly Costs Q1 Exit
The incident with Norris occurred at Mirabeau and almost caused him to be eliminated in Q1.
“I had to stop to remove it. This simply shouldn’t happen in Formula 1,” Norris stated.
“It’s a bit silly in my opinion. We said this would happen on Friday, and they said they’d fix it, but obviously, it hasn’t been sorted.”
“It’s unfortunate that luck has to play a role. I was lucky to have enough time; otherwise, it would have ruined my qualifying and my entire weekend.”
Norris described the saga as “unacceptable” and anticipates it becoming a controversial topic post-race unless it can be resolved by tomorrow.
“I can’t do anything about a banner. It can only ruin your race at the moment.”
“They Must Find a Better Solution Than Simple Banners or Stickers,” Says Norris
“They need to find a better solution than simple banners or stickers in certain places, because of course, we hit the walls or the rails here. But it’s unacceptable that this could ruin your entire weekend just because of a few stickers and things like that. They need to find a better solution.”
Charles Leclerc also came close to missing out on Q1 due to this issue.
“In Q1, it was very tricky. I picked up this sticker, this sponsor sticker on one of the laps. It was quite significant, which slowed us down a lot. We stopped, removed the sponsor banner from the front wing, and went back out.”
“It was already tricky enough because in qualifying at Monaco, you just want to go out and do normal laps, so I was just praying there wouldn’t be a yellow or red flag after that. Fortunately for me, it worked out. I hope a solution will be in place by tomorrow.”
Andrea Stella, McLaren F1 Director, Equally Frustrated
“What happened in Q1 is something that shouldn’t occur and doesn’t meet the standards of racing circuits. We took that banner under the car, and the car lost as much downforce as the equivalent of three seconds per lap.”
“The car should not be compromised by this kind of issue, which has existed since the first free practice sessions. It’s not suddenly in qualifying that the banners start to come off. It was there in every session, and we need to address it.”
“It affected Lando in a quite catastrophic manner from a performance standpoint. And I also understand that it could have potentially impacted Leclerc, and a few other drivers as well.”
“So, what exactly is going to determine the outcome of the race? The luck of whether you pick up banners or not? Or do we want it to be the result of the quality of the drivers, the car, and the teams? Something needs to be done.”
The issue has been discussed between the FIA, F1, and Sport Signage, F1’s branding and advertising partner.
None of the damaged banners will be replaced this Sunday, and the decision has already been made to completely remove the branding in some small sensitive areas for tomorrow.
The situation will then be monitored through the three support races. Depending on whether new problems arise during the F3, F2, and Porsche Supercup races, one option is to remove all markings in hot spots, such as the exit of the Swimming Pool section, before the Grand Prix.
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