German Grand Prix – McLaren’s Lando Norris will not be investigated for a potential blocking infringement after unintentionally disrupting Alex Albon’s qualifying lap.
At the close of the first part of qualifying, both Norris and Albon were eliminated from the session, having only qualified in sixteenth and seventeenth for the Hockenheim race respectively.
Replays suggested that Norris might have impeded Albon’s final qualifying attempt, much to the annoyance of the Toro Rosso driver.
However, the stewards did not decide to investigate this incident as both Albon and Norris were on ‘flying’ laps, with both drivers attempting to make the cut for Q2.
Drivers are not expected to move out of the way of another car on a ‘push’ lap if they are also pushing to improve their time.
When asked about any potential penalty for impeding another car, Norris explained: “I was on a ‘push’ lap. He just started the lap behind me, so I’ve got nothing to be worried about.”
When describing his final qualifying run, he added that being unable to complete a clean lap meant he was unable to progress into Q2, resulting in his first Q1 elimination of the season.
“I just didn’t put the lap together. I did different bits well enough, but I just didn’t put it together when it mattered. Another two hundredths [of a second faster] and I could’ve been through into Q2.
“I’m frustrated because it was such a small amount, and we knew it would be [close], but still it cost us getting into Q2, which is annoying because our aim is to get into Q3 at least.”
Speaking after qualifying, Albon also conceded that no action should be taken, due to both drivers attempting to make improvements on their qualifying times:
“I started my lap half a second behind Lando, he didn’t block me but it’s just how the track is as everyone was bunched up in the last sector, it was just chaos. I was right on Lando’s gearbox and there was nothing we could do, it was just one of those things.”
To view the full results from the qualifying hour, click here.
