The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix F1 stewards have explained why Lando Norris escaped punishment for jumping the start.
Onboard footage from Norris’ car clearly showed the Briton jolting forward in his grid spot, and quickly stopping again, before the lights went out to signal the start of the race.
The incident was immediately reported over team radio by Mercedes driver George Russell, who started alongside his fellow countryman in seventh.
It was investigated by the stewards, who ultimately cleared Norris because the FIA’s standardised data transponder had not been set off.
“The stewards reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video and determined that the video appeared to show that car 4 moved before the start signal was given,” the stewards said.
“However, the FIA approved and supplied transponder fitted on the car did not indicate a jump start.
“Article 48.1 a) of the Formula One Sporting Regulations states clearly that the judgment of whether or not there was a jump start is to be made in accordance with the transponder, which did not show a jump start. In the circumstances, we took no further action.”
Norris admitted he “didn’t know what happened” because it “happened so quickly”.
“He informed Sky that he made a brief attempt, stopped, tried again, but ultimately ended up losing without any gains.”
Anthony Davidson, a pundit for Sky F1, examined the incident post-race and indicated that McLaren could have effectively challenged any penalty through an appeal if one had been issued.
“There will probably be lots of questions regarding this potential jump start from Lando Norris. It was something that we all saw and something that he definitely felt,” Davidson explained.
“The lights are on, the car clearly moves, he stops and then he gets going again. So why didn’t he get a penalty?
“Well, on the circuit, on each grid box there is a sensor. Now it appears that the sensor wasn’t working. It didn’t detect the car moving. It’s an automated system and it didn’t detect that the car had moved.
The stewards are able to visually observe a potential or actual jump start, even though the sensors did not register it, which can be considered fortunate.
“Another issue with the regulation is that there is a loophole. In case a penalty is imposed, the team can appeal it and win the appeal by pointing out that the sensor is unable to detect the movement of the car.”
“Therefore, Lando Norris was not penalized for the jump start because the computer did not detect it.” A driver being let off for a jump start is not a new occurrence.
Valtteri Bottas did not receive a penalty for a jump start during the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix, and the same happened with Sebastian Vettel in Japan the previous year.