On an evening when a number of drivers were close to passing out, Esteban Ocon was sick in his helmet, Logan Sargeant retired due to heatstroke, and the medical centre had several visitors post-race, podium finisher Norris thinks F1 went too far in terms of what was acceptable.
Rather than it simply being a case of the Qatar event taking place in conditions that were too hot, the implications of a flat-out race, triggered by mandatory short tyre stints at the high-speed venue, combined to push F1 drivers to the edge.
Asked by Autosport if F1 had gone over the limit in what it expected drivers to do, Norris said: “I think today we probably found the limit. I think it's sad we had to find it this way.
“It's never a nice situation to be in, some people ending up in the medical centre or passing out, and things like that. So, a pretty dangerous thing to have going on.
“But it's not a point where you can just go, the drivers need to train more or do any of that. We're in a closed car that gets extremely hot in a very physical race. And it's frustrating.
“I guess on TV, it probably doesn't look very physical at all, but clearly, when you have people who end up retiring or in such a bad state, it's too much, you know, for the speeds we're doing. It is too dangerous.
“I know that this race next year is later on in the season, and it will be a lot cooler a few months later, but it's something that needs to be thought of, and I'm sure we'll speak about it because it shouldn't have happened in the first place.”
Source: Autosport