World champion Lando Norris has called for Alpine driver Franco Colapinto to be banned after an accident during the restart of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Norris was involved in a chain reaction when Colapinto locked up his brakes and slid into teammate Pierre Gasly, who then hit Norris. All three drivers retired from the race as a result of the incident. Norris told BBC Radio 5 Live: "Give him a ban. It's quite simple." Colapinto expressed regret, saying: "I can be sorry to everyone. It's been a big mistake, of course. I just locked up and then I was very out of control." Norris argued that the FIA, the governing body of Formula One, should take such incidents more seriously due to their impact on other drivers and the financial cost of damaged parts. "The FIA should be more strict and start handing out bans for this kind of stuff," Norris said. "It's careless from people. It costs a lot of money. All my parts are in the bin now, so people should just get banned for this kind of driving. They don't deserve to be in Formula 1. If you cause a crash on a restart like this, yeah, you should have at least a one-race ban." However, race winner George Russell and Max Verstappen, who finished second, both argued that a ban would be too severe. Russell said: "That's too harsh. 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. Race bans should come from drivers intentionally doing something very dangerous and very reckless." Verstappen added: "As long as the driver that caused it is aware of what he did, right, and apologised... It's not nice. Not nice for anyone involved, right? But like George said, a race ban probably is a bit much." Colapinto received a 10-second penalty in the race, but since he was already retired, it was converted into a five-place grid drop at the next race, the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, next weekend. Both Alpine drivers had a chance of scoring points before the incident, running seventh and 10th. The incident also affected Alpine's position in the constructors' championship, as Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad finished seventh, extending the gap to Alpine by 15 points. Gasly said he was "crushed" by the incident, expressing disappointment after a strong race performance. A McLaren spokesperson said it was too early to determine whether Norris would be able to use the upgraded parts the team introduced in Baku for the next race. Norris faced online abuse after calling for a ban on Colapinto, which followed an incident that excluded him from Saturday’s race. Norris’s comments triggered significant hostility on his social media platforms, primarily from Colapinto’s supporters. Colapinto acknowledged responsibility for the collision and will receive a five-place grid penalty at the next race. In response to the online hostility, Alpine issued a statement to the Press Association, condemning the abuse and emphasizing the need for healthy sporting rivalry. The team expressed solidarity with Formula One, the FIA, and other teams in addressing online abuse, which has become a regular occurrence in recent races. Norris’s exclusion from the race in Baku left him 116 points behind Kimi Antonelli, effectively ending his title defense. Russell secured his third win of the season, reducing Antonelli’s lead from 81 points to 66, with 208 points still available over eight rounds. Russell is now Antonelli’s only realistic competitor and will aim to build momentum at next weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. However, Antonelli warned his Mercedes teammate he would return to form in Sepang. "He has always been my rival, but I will make sure next week I re-establish the order. And make sure I am back at my normal level," Antonelli said. "You always want to win, and I am not happy how I drove this weekend. I could have done, and I should have done a much better job, but it was one of those weekends where it didn’t click. I struggled, but it has taught me a lot, I have learned a lot about myself, especially how to respond to this kind of situation, and it will be much better next weekend."