Reigning Formula 1 champion Lando Norris says he issued a public apology to Franco Colapinto to help calm the waters as his calls for a race ban sparked an online backlash. Lando Norris slammed Franco Colapinto for causing a pile-up at last weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, calling for a race ban for the Argentinian driver.
The McLaren driver soon reached out to apologise to Franco Colapinto for going too far with his comments straight after the incident, but not before his outburst had triggered another torrent of online abuse directed at him from corners of Franco Colapinto's fanbase. As a result, Lando Norris decided to also issue a public statement to help calm the waters, although he stressed Franco Colapinto was the only partner that needed apologising to.
, Lando Norris, Pierre Gasly](https://cdn.motorsport.com/images/mgl/2eZxyejY/s1000/franco-colapinto-alpine-lando-.jpg)
"It was more for the wider audience," Lando Norris said on Thursday in Malaysia. "I said what I wanted to Franco and he's the only one really that I need to share my opinion and my apology with. I don't need to do it on social media, but at the same time there was obviously a lot of that noise and stuff in the background and I thought it was only sensible to announce or show that I made that apology. I accept that I was in the wrong."
Lando Norris said his chat with Franco Colapinto "didn't need to be very long" as they both accepted blame for their respective wrongdoing in Baku. "I apologised to him for some of the things I said that were wrong, and he apologised to me for the incident, which is good," Lando Norris explained. "I like Franco a lot, he's a very nice guy, we always talk on our track walk, on our drivers' parades and things like that, so I have a lot of time with him. We were both just apologising to each other, so nothing more than that."
But while accepting he went too far with his comments, he regretted how his post-race comments triggered so much abuse and hoped social platforms could do more to stamp toxic behaviour out. Lando Norris, who has significantly scaled back his own social media usage, said the episode would not discourage him from speaking his mind in the future.
Source: Autosport
