In a significant development at the conclusion of the 2025 United States Grand Prix, Lando Norris has been formally issued a final warning by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) following a series of rule breaches during the race weekend at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
The penalty marks a notable moment in the title fight and underscores the mounting regulatory pressure on drivers and teams operating at the edge of the sport’s governing framework.
According to the official stewards’ report, Norris received the final warning after multiple infringements of track limits during his charge through the field. During the race, the McLaren driver exceeded the limits on three separate occasions, prompting the stewards to issue the black-and-white flag warning – the last official caution before a time penalty is imposed.
While he ultimately secured second place behind Max Verstappen, the warning serves as a red-line alert: any further breach of the same nature will carry an automatic five-second time penalty.
Norris’s own reflections on the matter were pointed. He described the rule around track limits as “one of the silliest rules that we have” and argued that “we’re invited to try and race, but if you race too much, you get a penalty for it.” His comments reflect a growing frustration among drivers who argue that wheel-to-wheel battles are being constrained by regulations designed to police boundary behaviour rather than enhance the spectacle.
The context of the warning is particularly sobering for Norris and his team, McLaren, who are locked in a tight fight for the drivers’ championship. With teammate Oscar Piastri leading the standings and McLaren vying for the constructors’ crown, any regulatory misstep now carries heightened significance.
Norris’s flirtation with the edge of the rules could, if repeated, jeopardise title ambitions – not just personal, but for the team as a whole.
Norris’s run at the US Grand Prix was characterised by an intense duel for second place with Charles Leclerc of Ferrari. After losing the position at the first corner, Norris recaptured it on lap 21, but not without stretching the boundaries of the track.
The stewards’ decision to issue the final warning emphasises that while overtaking and battling are integral to Formula 1, they must not cross into repeated track-limit violations.
Meanwhile, the weekend was not solely about Norris’s on-track boundary issues. The FIA also issued a sanction to his rival team, Red Bull Racing, albeit not directly connected to Norris’s warning.
Red Bull was fined €50,000, with €25,000 suspended, after a team member entered the gate well area near Norris’s grid box after the formation lap had started and marshals had begun to close the gates.
Reports indicated that the individual attempted to remove a strip of tape applied by McLaren to the pit wall as a visual marker for Norris’s grid alignment — a marker that is widely used by teams despite not being explicitly regulated. Though the fine was levied for a safety breach rather than interference with the marker itself, the incident added another layer to the grid games and psychological warfare that often accompany Formula 1’s high-stakes environment.
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies described the matter as a “misunderstanding” and maintained that the team member believed marshals’ instructions had been followed. Nevertheless, the stewards’ statement emphasised that “any person affiliated to a team or other stakeholders should be aware that entering the track or hindering the safety measures to prepare the track for the race after the grid has been cleared is absolutely prohibited.”