McLaren chief Andreas Seidl said he was "quite happy" that Lando Norris received a time penalty for track limits violations during the Austrian Grand Prix – despite the racer's view that the rules are "a bit stupid".
Stewards at the Red Bull Ring were particularly strict when it came to the rules, which state a lap time must be deleted if a car goes fully across the white lines at the side of the track. At many venues on the calendar, only certain corners are policed.
The whole point of the rule is to make sure drivers are not gaining an advantage by purposefully going off the track so they can maintain speed through the exit of a corner. During qualifying in Austria, many drivers had their lap times deleted and Sergio Perez was dropped from fourth to 13th on the grid for a violation in Q2.
