Lando Norris has said Franco Colapinto should be banned for the pile-up which ended his Azerbaijan Grand Prix, adding "[there's] some drivers that shouldn't be in Formula 1."
Colapinto wiped out Norris and his own Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly from the race at a Safety Car restart on lap 36, locking up and going down the inside of Turn 1.
Norris had dropped down the order with a lock-up of his own earlier in the race, leaving him battling in the midfield at the restart.
The reigning world champion pointed the finger of blame at Colapinto, hinting that the Argentine driver does not deserve his spot on the grid.
"I was just slow," Norris told Sky Sports after the Baku race. "Struggled a lot in this race. You saw how quickly everyone came past me.
"Otherwise, I still made the mistake. But at the end of the day, I just got taken out. Just some drivers that shouldn't be in Formula 1 to, be honest."
Colaptino was handed a 10-second time penalty for the incident, and was later given a five-place grid penalty for the next race in Malaysia, as he did not make it to the end of the race.
He and teammate Gasly had been running strongly -- after the incident, Gasly was broadcast saying: "Oh my god. Oh my god. I cannot believe it. So many [censored] points gone!"
Speaking to the written press, Norris doubled down, suggesting Colapinto should be banned for the next race.
As quoted by PA, Norris said: "If you cause a crash on a restart like this, you should have at least a one-race ban.
"I just got taken out. And the FIA should be stricter by starting to hand out bans for this kind of stuff.
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"It is just careless. It costs a lot of money, all my parts are in the bin now. It is not driving that deserves to be in Formula 1.
"In Formula 1 you would expect that drivers can anticipate that the grip will be low and tyre temperatures are low.
"You want to be against the best drivers and when stuff like this happens it is because, yeah, they shouldn't be there."
Colapinto, who was recently given an Alpine contract extension for 2027, accepted responsibility, apologising to his team and teammate, as well as Norris.
"Just sorry to all the team, not only to Pierre, it was a big mistake," Colapinto said. "Big sorry to Pierre, he has been working really hard in the factory. We lost a lot of positions and we were with both cars in the points.
"Very sad and disappointed. Big, big sorry, it's a big mistake. Cold brakes, cold tyres, I was completely out of control. Unfortunately, I also took Pierre out. And Lando of course. Big sorry to both of them."
The incident might raise fears of what the social media backlash will be.
Ahead of the weekend, Gasly revealed the threats he, his girlfriend and family members had received after he held up Colapinto in the closing stages of the Madrid Grand Prix.
Colapinto has built a big fanbase back home in Argentina since his debut in 2024.
Asked about the partnership with Gasly, Colapinto said: "We are good. We've always been quite good together. Since we worked together for the first time, we got on very well. So we need to move on."
Gasly appeared unmoved when told about Colapinto's apology, reflecting on the big points loss in the championship.
"I can't find my words," Gasly said. "It's not easy. We did a very good weekend and the car was one of the best race cars we've had this season. And the pace was great. Keeping up with Lewis [Hamilton] and Lando for most of the race. And we had a 14 or 15 second gap to the midfield."
When asked if the partnership was still in a good place, Gasly said: "Respect. It's all about respect. As long as there is respect, everything is possible."
Speaking in the top-three news conference about Norris' comments, race winner George Russell disagreed with the fellow Brit.
Russell said: "Yeah, I think that's too harsh, personally. I think Safety Car restarts, cold tyres, a very small mistake can have big consequences. And from what I saw today, that's what it looked like. It was a small error that had a big consequence. I think, personally, race bans should come from drivers intentionally doing something very dangerous and very reckless. So I think it was unfortunate."
Four-time world champion Max Verstappen agreed with Russell and added: "Yeah, I think as long [as], of course, the driver that caused it is aware of what he did, right, and apologised. And, I mean, yeah, that happens.
"I mean, like, a small mistake or misjudgement, you lock up, it's on the inside, low grip, and, of course, then I guess a bit unfortunate that it involves so many cars. But, yeah, unfortunate, happens, and it's not nice, I think. Not nice for anyone involved, right? But like George said, I think, yeah, a race ban probably is a bit much."