Norris admits to foolish actions in Hungary, casting a shadow over teammate Piastri’s first victory.
Lando Norris has admitted fault for delaying Oscar Piastri’s pass in Hungary. The McLaren F1 driver regrets monopolizing the spotlight and sidelining his teammate’s first career victory. He realized this as strategy and its implementation became headline news.
“Could it have been handled differently, from both the team and a personal standpoint? Yes, absolutely,” said Norris. “In some way, we wouldn’t be having this conversation today.”
“It doesn’t bother me that outsiders think and make up their own stories about what happened and what I might or might not have done. But the things I could have done, the fact that I overshadowed Oscar’s first F1 victory, is something I’m not very proud of.”
“The fact that we achieved a one-two finish and it barely made the headlines after the race, that nothing was said about it from that angle, that’s the part that bothered me most. Apart from that, we’ve discussed it, we’ve talked about it. Both parties could have done things a bit better and differently.”
“Both teams could have done things a bit better and differently. It’s almost a bad thing that we had this, but it’s a good thing that we did, that we learned from it, and that we can do better next time.”
When asked what he could have done differently to simplify the situation, Norris is clear: “Let him pass right away. It’s just stupid not to have done it, because we are free to race.”
“I could have let him pass while trying to overtake him and race. It seems so simple now, but it’s not something that crossed my mind at the time. I could have done something as simple, but I was in a good rhythm. Things were going well at that moment.”
“I questioned things several times, I questioned the team several times. I knew at that moment, when they called me in before him, that I was going to have to let him pass, but I was a bit foolish and didn’t think to let him pass sooner.”
The Briton explains why McLaren prioritized him in the pits while he was in second place, and why it seemed like a good idea: “We do things for reasons. There was no need to do it.”
“It was better for Oscar’s race to stay out longer and have slightly fresher tires and such. So, from a strategy standpoint, it’s inevitable to pit the second driver first, but how long can one delay in a race?”
“It was actually quite an early pit stop sequence at that time, quite early in the pit stop sequences, and that’s why we were a bit concerned about the tires. And that’s why they brought me in first and let him do two more laps, otherwise, yes, they could have boxed him earlier.”
“For both our races at that moment, it was best to proceed the way we did. So, it is possible that I made the situation a bit more complicated and stressful for the team than it needed to be.”
Norris, however, hopes to have clarified things with Piastri, and he is confident the Australian understands his perspective: “I think he knows. We talked right away and did a lot of interviews together and things like that. I said I felt bad about what happened and how his first win went down. I hope he knows it in that way and I think he does.”
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