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SPA, Belgium — Lando Norris said he is “not too proud” that the radio tension over McLaren’s use of team orders at the Hungarian GP overshadowed teammate Oscar Piastri’s maiden win and that he was “stupid” not to have given up the lead sooner.
Piastri scored his first F1 victory in Hungary on Sunday after Norris moved aside with three laps remaining, having taken the lead after McLaren opted to pit him earlier than Piastri due to the threat from the cars behind.
The final stint of the race saw Norris engage in a series of radio discussions with his engineer, Will Joseph, and challenge the instruction to move aside. He maintained after the race he was always confident about following the team’s call.
Looking back on Hungary, Norris admitted on Thursday at Spa it “could have been handled slightly differently from both a team side and a personal side.”
While he wasn’t bothered about the stories and discussion over how McLaren’s team orders played out, Norris admitted feeling bad that his actions had drawn attention away from Piastri’s victory.
“The things that I could have done, the fact that I kind of clouded over Oscar’s first race win in Formula One, is something I’ve not felt too proud about,” Norris said. “The fact we had a 1-2, and that was barely a headline after the race, that’s the kind of thing I felt worse about. We discussed it, we’ve spoken about it. Both sides could have done things a bit better and a little bit differently.
“It’s almost… not good that we had it, but a good moment that we’ve had it, we’ve learned from it, and hopefully it’s done better next time.”
Piastri said he thought there were elements of the race that McLaren still needed to discuss. Still, he felt the team made “very sensible decisions, and done in complete trust of Lando and myself in mind,” and he could now benefit from knowing how to handle the situation.
“We discuss a lot of things as a team, but you can’t plan for every single scenario,” he added. “This one admittedly had some nuances to it that meant we were sort of in an unprecedented position before the race. I’m not surprised at all that (Norris) wanted to keep the lead of the race, and I think it’s only natural.”
Norris said he told Piastri he “felt bad about what happened and the way his first win went” but noted that they still had “a lot of faith and trust in each other.” Piastri added they had “shared McDonald’s and played Monopoly” since the race and remained on good terms.
Asked what he could have done differently, Norris admitted he should have “just let him past straight away” and that it was “such a stupid thing that I didn’t” as he could have then battled Piastri for the win.
“We’re free to race,” Norris said. “I could have just let him past and still tried to overtake and to race him. Sounds so simple now, but it’s not something that went through my head at the time.”
Norris not looking for title backing
One thing Norris mentioned to McLaren on the radio during the final stint in Hungary was his championship chances against Max Verstappen, who endured a tough race for Red Bull and only finished fifth.
By giving up the win, Norris sacrificed seven additional points over second place, meaning the gap to Verstappen is 76 points instead of 69 with 11 races to go.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said after the race that he did not see a situation where it had to back a single driver yet and that he expected the drivers themselves to instigate any such discussion.
Norris did not think that now was the right time to make such considerations, even as McLaren enters the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend as the favorite for victory. Verstappen is expected to start down the field due to an engine penalty that has yet to be confirmed.
“We are only halfway through, and we have a hell of a long way to go,” Norris said. “Maybe further down the line, but that time is to be decided.”
Piastri currently trails Norris by 40 points in the standings but felt he was “not out of it” and that while it would only take a few races for things to swing his way potentially, he would be a team player if asked to support his teammate in the title race.
“If Lando is in a position to win the championship and they ask me to help, then I will,” Piastri said. “But I think halfway through the season with so many points still on offer, for myself as well, I think it’s still very early.”
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(Lead photo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri: ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP via Getty Images)
