Lando Norris claims that his poor start to the Hungarian Grand Prix is what ultimately cost him victory as opposed to team orders.

In fact, off the line, the Briton was the stronger of the two McLaren drivers, and heading towards Turn 1, ensured he first covered off his teammate, Oscar Piastri, before focussing his attention on Max Verstappen who was charging down the track to his left.

As Norris moved across to cover the Red Bull, Piastri had the inside as they entered the notorious first corner. The Australian caused his teammate to move to the outside of the track which in turn saw Verstappen run wide.

However, as Piastri held the lead, Verstappen illegally rejoined ahead of Norris who was momentarily passed by Lewis Hamilton, and though the McLaren driver immediately reclaimed the position from the Mercedes it was several laps before the Red Bull driver handed back the position.

Piastri continued to lead, however McLaren turned the race on its head when it subsequently - and contrary to previous agreement - opted to pit the Briton before the Australian. The undercut, combined with a mistake Piastri had made on Lap 33, when he ran wide and lost a couple of vital seconds, saw Norris take the lead, a lead he was unwilling to relinquish.

As the great debate over team orders continues, a debate which calls into question whether Norris' loyalty is to his team or himself, the Briton insists that his race was lost at the start.

"I had a terrible, not even a terrible start, I just had a bad start," he told reporters. "Something happened on my second shift, and I lost all my momentum, Oscar got to the inside, and that was it, that was that."

Nonetheless, he blames the team for the drama that was to follow.

"I got put into the lead rather than wanting to," he said. "I feel like we made things way too hard for ourselves and way too tricky for ourselves. We should have just boxed Oscar first and things would have been simple.

"They gave me the lead, and I gave it back," he added. "I shouldn't have won today. I didn't deserve to win, because of my start and Oscar's good start, and that's that."

As the radio calls to the Briton to yield the lead to his teammate became evermore desperate, Norris admits that he was tempted to disobey.

"I don't feel like, I know I was in that position for a while, and 16, 17 laps or whatever, it's hard when you're in that position to give it back, because you're there," he admitted. "You're there, and of course that went through my mind, seven points that I'm going to lose.

"But I think the real fact is that I almost shouldn't have had them in the first place, I shouldn't have had them in my hands. So the team were right, and I stand by what they said.

"The thing is I was put in this situation," he insisted, "and it's not my fault I was leading the race in a way. The team should have just boxed Oscar first, and we wouldn't even be having this discussion. So it's not that.

"I think as a team we could have done things slightly differently, and I'm sure we'll talk about it.

"At the same time, this guy here deserved to win today," he said of his teammate. "He did an amazing job, he got me off the line. That's a very special feeling winning your first race.

"I'll let him enjoy it, and for us as a team, to have the win is an incredible weekend for all of us."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 23/07/2024 1:37

"@Mad Matt....but then Norris was only six seconds down the road because he'd been gifted track position at Piastri's expense. As for his confected petulance, well throwing your '2nd' place hat onto the floor hardly qualifies for being 'in good grace' then we are at odds. There's no 'me' in the WCC and he has been told that on many occasions as borne out by Stella's comments. Apparently that's a condition of employment at Mc.Laren.

The only reason he praised Oscar is that he realised what he said and did would attract negative press as a result of his 'sooking'. For once Norris's sense of 'entitlement' was exposed as ugly, as well it should. As for your final comment I agree. Had that been done publically then the race may have turned out different and been a better solution all round. What really irks me is that Norris was able to crash Oscar's party on a day which should've been all about a maiden win in the top tier of motorsport. Compare that with the 'froth and bubble' surrounding Norris's first win and you will see what I mean. Now looking to see part two playing out at Spa.
"

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2. Posted by Mad Matt, 22/07/2024 12:17

"I think you might be reading too much into a turn of phrase. As I said in my previous comment (in the article about McLaren post race) they are racers and don't concede places easily, especially when they're six seconds down the road and their team mate can't close up (or at all if you look at people like Vettel) but having done so he was reasonably gracious about it and didn't appear angry or sulky in the post race interview, he even praised Oscar.

For my tuppence worth on the subject McLaren should have told Lando he was being given first stop but in exchange he'd need to let Oscar past if he undercut him... then there can be no debate."

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3. Posted by Chester, 22/07/2024 9:45

"Agree with you, Kenji. To me, Lando is condescending. You could first see it when he was paired with Ricciardo.

I was starting to like Lando but his whining on the radio makes it hard. In the end, he did the right thing."

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4. Posted by West York, 22/07/2024 9:03

"Norris had been told that he was free to race the papaya before the pit stop, so with hindsight, perhaps his best option would have been to yield the position, and then immediately raced to try and win it back. Being a bit more savvy and better tactical racecraft from him and his engineer should see him make greater progression.
On the brighter side though, at least all those radio broadcast worries about Lando's tyres proved not to be an issue after all.

"

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5. Posted by kenji, 22/07/2024 8:14

"How gracious of Norris!!!. 'I'll let him enjoy it' Really? Who does he think he is that he can be so condescending? Oscar will savour this moment, despite his team mate having his cage rattled and doing everything he can to grab some, dubious at best, headlines as Oscar has burst the bubble. One can only hope that he can move it up a notch and get some more great results despite the team treating him like a No.2."

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Norris lost Hungary win "off the line"

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