by VALERIO BARRETTA
McLaren, Norris forgets the controversies
Twelve years later, the McLaren he “blocked” the front row of a Formula 1 Grand Prix and for the first time since 2021 (the second in 12 years) he achieved a one-two in the race. It was therefore a historic Sunday for the Woking team, but few talked about it: “Lando’s fault” Norriswho was extremely hesitant to let Oscar pass Plates after having stolen first place from him only thanks to the team’s strategy.
After the podium, Norris congratulated Piastri, but of course the spirits were tense, because the Briton could have used seven more points in the fight against Max Verstappen. Four days later, the #4 regretted his race management, admitting that he should have let Piastri pass immediately and earned first place on the track.
Norris’s words
“Yes, it could have been handled a little differently from both a team and personal perspective, absolutely. I’m not proud of having tarnished the Oscar moment a bit, his first race win in Formula 1, and also that of the team: we did a one-two and almost nobody talked about it. We discussed, both sides could have done things a little better and a little differently, but we learned from this and hope it will be better next time“, these are the words of the British in Belgium.
“Now I would let Oscar pass right away. It’s so stupid that he didn’t do it, because then we would have been free to race, and I would have tried to pass him. It seems so simple now, but it’s not something that crossed my mind at the time.“, has continued. “I could have done it, but I had a good pace and things were going well at the time, but I knew I should have let him pass. It was a bit stupid of me not to let him go: from our side everything was very clear, I knew I had to do it but I waited too long and it became a much bigger problem than necessary. If I had let him go earlier I would still have had a chance to try to win the race“.
Norris then talks about Spa, where Verstappen could be penalised by fitting the fifth power unit of the season: “Do I think I am the favorite along with Oscar? As a team, I have no idea.. We were last weekend, yes, I think about Hungary we can safely say that for the first time we were the best team. But for the rest I can’t say“.
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