Lando Norris has apologised to Franco Colapinto after admitting he was wrong to call for the Argentine driver to be banned following their collision at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Colapinto caused a three-car retirement at the restart after locking up and sliding into his Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly, whose car then collided with Norris’ McLaren.
The incident ended the race for all three drivers.
Colapinto immediately accepted responsibility for the crash, describing it as a “big mistake” and apologising for what happened.
Norris, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live after the race, reacted angrily and called for Colapinto to receive a ban.
However, the McLaren driver later contacted Colapinto privately before publicly apologising for his remarks on Instagram.
Norris said emotions had been high after the disappointing end to his race but acknowledged that this did not justify his comments.
He also recognised that mistakes are part of Formula 1, pointing to his own experiences of making errors while racing at the limit.
Norris said he and Colapinto had since reached an understanding and remained friends, with both looking forward to returning to racing.
Colapinto was handed a 10-second penalty for the incident during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Because he retired from the race, the penalty was converted into a five-place grid drop, which he will serve at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia this weekend.
