FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem jokingly awarded Lando Norris a €5,000 fine after the F1 world champion dropped the f-bomb during the FIA prize-giving ceremony.
Taking place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, the final award of the evening was for Norris to receive his trophy as world champion after McLaren received its constructors’ trophy and Oscar Piastri his for finishing third in the drivers.’
As he entered the stage, Norris’s hair was initially ruffled by Ben Sulayem, with the McLaren driver then invited to give some thoughts, which is where he dropped the word – with Ben Sulayem keen to see a reduction in swearing by drivers out of the cockpit.
“I mean Oscar certainly didn’t make my life easy, and we had a great rivalry and competition against each other for the last three years,” Norris began.
“Obviously, in the second half of the season, Max was catching up and putting pressure on both of us, and all of us as a team, and we had some great moments.
“Of course we’ve had some great wins, winning in Monaco and Silverstone was a dream, but I and we had our share of mistakes and fuck ups, can I say that here?
“Oh sorry, I’ll get fined, but I can pay it off now, but we still made a fair share of mistakes and tough moments, but it was all worth it, and all part of the story.”
Jokingly, newly re-elected president Ben Sulayem said he’d give Norris a fine.
“I was going to give you a €5,000 fine, but now I think you need it for youur hair after I messed it up.”