Lando Norris trolls Red Bull for incurring $50k fine in the F1 US GP

Lando Norris took a dig at Red Bull after the Austrian team faced a penalty at the recently concluded United States GP. The FIA penalized Red Bull $50,000 after one of its team members re-entered the track following the formation lap to interfere with a piece of tape.

The Red Bull man re-entered the track and attempted to interfere with the tape that was put in place by McLaren to help Norris, so that the British driver got assistance to find out his grid position at the start of the race.

However, Lando Norris revealed that he did not need to use the tape that the Red Bull crew tried to interfere with. As a result, he found it amusing that Red Bull faced a penalty for something that was of no use to him.

"Good job by them. They can [remove the tape]," Norris told the media at the Mexico City GP. "I didn’t mind; I didn’t use the tape, so it was extra amusing because I didn’t need it. We just put it there in case."

"That] made extra funny because they got a penalty for it and didn’t even need it. They also tried to remove it and failed, because we made [it] special so they couldn’t take it off even," Lando Norris further added. (Via Sky Sports)

Notably, this wasn't the first time Red Bull used this tactic, as revealed by the driver himself. Earlier, Red Bull used it during Monza and other places, and as a result, McLaren developed a special kind of tape, which is difficult to remove.

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What did Red Bull say about the penalty, something Lando Norris joked about?

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies shared his thoughts about the penalty and stated that it was a misunderstanding from the team. Speaking to the media, here's what he said:

Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Team Oracle Red Bull Racing (1) talks to Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies - Source: Getty

"We fully respect the stewards. It was felt that some time during the grid procedures, one of our guys had not followed the officials or some marshal instructions. We spoke with our people. They are very positive that they have followed marshal instructions at all times, so I think it’s probably a misunderstanding there."

Lando Norris is currently competing for the F1 World Championship alongside his teammate, Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen. Norris is in P2 in the standings with 332 points after 19 races and four sprints. Piastri is leading the Championship with 346 points, while Verstappen is in P3 with 306 points.

McLaren, on the other hand, has already secured the Constructors' Championship in Singapore. Meanwhile, Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari are competing for P2 in the Championship.