Lando Norris has lost his pole position for race three at Spa-Francorchamps after being found guilty of the first lap tangle between himself and Guan Yu Zhou at Les Combes during Friday’s second race.
Both drivers were eliminated in the incident, Norris on the spot and Zhou in the pits, but stewards in Belgium deemed the Carlin driver responsible, with a three-place grid penalty forthcoming for Saturday’s final race.
The penalty drops him to fourth on the grid, promoting Prema Powerteam’s Callum Ilott to pole position, while Zhou and Maximilian Günther making it a Prema 1-2-3.
“It was my mistake basically,” admitted Norris after the race. “I just didn’t know what to expect because I hadn’t yet gone into Turn 5 [Les Combes] following someone.
“I had Günther right behind me, I was right on Callum, so I had to wait until Günther braked until I could brake, because he might have hit me.
“Just as I turned in I locked the front-right up, which made me understeer and run wide, and I tagged ‘Joe’ [Zhou] – I apologised to him.”
