Lando Norris opens up on ‘bigger topic’ casting darker shadow on F1 than Horner chaos

Lando Norris believes that the issues facing FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem are a bigger concern to the sport than the conundrum of Christian Horner’s future within the Red Bull organisation.

The acting FIA president is facing two separate allegations, and the governing body’s compliance department is actively looking into a report on the matter after BBC Sport published the news ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Ben Sulayem allegedly pushed for Fernando Alonso’s penalty at the 2023 Saudi Arabian GP to be revoked, while the second report claims that he told officials not to certify the Las Vegas circuit ahead of its inaugural race last year.

The 62-year-old has not commented on the allegations, but an FIA spokesperson stated: “The compliance department is assessing these concerns, as is common practice in these matters, to ensure that due process is meticulously followed.”

These reports are just part of the multiple controversies facing the world of F1, as Red Bull team principal Horner continues to fend off calls for his resignation, including from Jos Verstappen – son of the reigning world champion.

Discussing the chaos, Norris said: “[The FIA probe] a bigger topic. Again, it’s not something that directly involves me. And I’m sure there’s the investigations going on and all of that, and I don’t know everything about it.

“If it does come up, and the drivers are more involved, then absolutely [I will comment], but of course, it wasn’t something that we knew about either. And I don’t know all the facts about it.

“So, it’s not something I can speak about, but you never want that sort of thing to happen at any point. Because of preference or whatever it is from any side. So yeah, as long as that gets resolved, then all looks good.”

Alonso, whose penalty played a role in the FIA controversy, also commented on the matter, stating: “There is too much talk off-track because on-track activities are not very exciting at the moment.

“There is one car winning for the last 72 grand prix, more or less dominating three years. So, when this happens in a sport there is always a lot of activity off-track. It’s more an FIA investigation that we have to respect and see the outcome.

“We are happy with all the evidence and all the proofs that we showed last year, so it was quite a clear resolution for us. So, let’s see what FIA says on their own investigation, but it’s not really up to Aston Martin.”