Norris says Stroll 'doesn’t seem to learn' after Portuguese GP collision

Lando Norris plans to “stay away” from rival Lance Stroll in future, saying he doesn’t know what the Racing Point driver was doing and that the Canadian “doesn’t seem to learn” following their collision in the Portuguese Grand Prix.

Stroll attacked Norris on the outside on the run to Turn 1, pulling alongside before turning in despite Norris having at least half his McLaren alongside on the inside. They collided, sending Stroll spinning off and while Norris continued, he was forced to pit immediately.

READ MORE: Hamilton takes record-breaking 92nd win with dominant drive in Portuguese GP

“I don’t know what he was doing really,” said Norris. “He went to the left, which I was quite surprised by when he could have very easily could have gone to the inside.

“I was easily halfway alongside and he just turns in. He obviously didn’t learn from Friday, but he doesn’t seem to learn from anything he does.

“It happens a lot with him so I just need to make sure I stay away next time.”

Explaining his side of the story, Stroll said: “He was kind of in the middle of the track, I wasn’t sure if he was going to go to the inside or stay on the line. It was very awkward.

“I had to make a split second decision, and I was on the outside over the kerb, and from there, I kinda turned into the corner, it wasn’t enough room for both of us. So that was that.”

He added: “It is a shame our race ended like that, we were really in a good position to score some good points. A tough result to swallow.”

The stewards attributed blame to Stroll, handing him a five-second time penalty, plus two points on his super licence. He got a further five-second time penalty and another point for exceeding track limits, bringing his total to three for the last 12 months.

The stewards said: "Stroll made a late move around Norris at the end of the main straight. He then drove straight towards the apex of turn 1 while Norris was still partially alongside.

"Norris moved as far to the apex as he could just avoiding the aggressive sausage curb on the inside, and thus did everything he could to avoid the collision. The Stewards determined that Stroll was predominantly at fault for the collision."

That was Stroll’s fourth successive race without scoring, while Norris’ run to 13th was his third straight non-score.

“Some points, maybe one, maybe two, [were possible] - I don’t know,” said Norris. “Some points at least. We needed it, we need the points, even if it’s just one at the end of the day because we’ve had a tough few weekends.

“We had the speed this weekend to bounce back and have two cars in the points, but just not today. Disappointing.”