Why Norris' lap time was deleted, and Verstappen's wasn't deleted

Lando Norris briefly lost his lap time, but it was later reinstated. As a result, Norris still secured pole position for the sprint race. GPblog asked the FIA what exactly happened.

Norris' fastest lap time was taken away from him. The Briton had gone off track on the previous lap. That lap time was deleted by the FIA, and because Norris went off track at the last corner, his next lap time was also taken away. This is because normally you have an advantage from this.

However, the stewards quickly realised that Norris had not benefited from going off track at the last corner of the previous lap. His trip through the gravel only hindered him on the lap that followed. The lap time was reinstated because he did not take advantage of this situation.

Strangely, Max Verstappen's lap time, which also went too wide at the last corner of his penultimate lap, was not removed and was later reinstated. On this, the FIA says they simply did not make the same mistake with the Dutchman.