Mixed fortunes for McLaren pair as Lando Norris will use the summer break for a "reset" as another poor start compromises his Belgian Grand Prix.

Seven days after losing the Hungarian Grand Prix due to a poor start, Lando Norris claims another duff getaway compromised his race in Belgium.

Starting fourth on the grid, the McLaren driver went wide as he exited La Source and dropped two positions, losing out to George Russell and Carlos Sainz.

Running ahead of title rival Max Verstappen, Norris lost out again when the Dutchman went for the undercut and essentially spent the remainder of the afternoon staring down the exhaust pipes of the world champion.

"Yeah, I just misjudged it, honestly," he said of the start. "I just didn't want to get taken out in Turn 1, so I left the gap and just misjudged the exit a little bit.

"Just impossible to overtake," he said of his fruitless pursuit of Verstappen. "The overtaking sucked today. I think there was very few overtakes actually done on track. Most of it was just in the pit stops. There were some overtakes, but only when you had a 10-lap tyre advantage.

"Otherwise, yeah, a bit of a tough race with the overtaking. I felt like we were quick, the car was quick. I just don't feel like we maximised what we could have done."

Known for his self-criticism, Norris says he will spend the upcoming break looking to learn from his mistakes.

"We all need it, but I think I just need it to reset," he said. "I've given away a lot of points over the last three or four races, just because of stupid stuff. Mistakes and bad starts. Turn 1 now.

"I don't know why, it's just silly things, it's not even difficult stuff," he added. "It's just Turn 1, trying to stay out of trouble, trying to make sure there's a gap and not get hit. And then I put myself off the track. Just some stupid things.

"The pace was good, the team were doing an amazing job, so I'm happy," he continued. "In a way, I feel like I just don't want to take a break, I just want to continue because we're in good form. Today I felt like the pace was very strong, but the last 2 or 3 races, I've just not clicked as much as I needed to. I've given up a lot of points, so hopefully I can come back stronger."

Asked how he will go about the reset, he said: "Just forget about it. I still have another week of debriefs. I'm in the factory for half of next week. Just review everything and look over everything, make sure we take a break on a good note. Which I think we have, honestly.

"There's a lot of positives, just things haven't clicked for us," he added. "But I feel like we've still got what we need and what we want. So I'm happy. We've got what it takes to fight and to put up a good battle. I've just not been on it from my side. So, review my things, go away and forget about it for a bit of time, and then come back stronger."

Teammate Oscar Piastri must surely be heading into the break feeling even happier, having finished third but subsequently inheriting second following Russell's disqualification.

No major mistakes from the Australian, only a lack of pace.

"I'm happy with the result," he said. "I think we managed the race very well.

"That's the second or third time this year we've tried to run over the front jack, so I'll try not to do that next time," he joked of that one slip-up when he slightly overshot his slot. "But very happy with the result and I don't think we could have done too much more."

Asked what he thought prevented him taking the fight to the Mercedes pair, he said: "I think just not quite enough speed. It took me a couple of laps to get past Charles and I really overheated the tyres doing that.

"It's been a really good couple of weeks for myself and the whole team of course , a lot of points," he added. "We still made inroads on Red Bull today and that's a really positive thing going into the break.

"I think everyone's looking forward to a bit of a break, I know I am so I can heal up a little bit, but it's been a fun couple of weeks and I'm looking forward to some time relaxing and coming back stronger in the second half."

Check out our Sunday gallery from Spa here.

LATEST NEWS

more news >

LATEST IMAGES

galleries >

Click to go to the main galleries section

READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 01/08/2024 0:09

"@Mad Matt...you may well be right of course. No doubt that they would've been expecting better results but it was Oscar who brought it home for the best result. He did a mighty job, IMO. Yes, he fluffed his lines going into his last pit stop but he made up for that with his final stint. One more lap and he had it in the bag.... On the other hand Norris is proving to be flaky. He has incredible speed, at times, and surely ranks in the top five drivers ATM but this is his sixth season and he shouldn't be making amateur errors. From a purely cynical standpoint I don't have time for the public displays of 'deep and meaningful, soulful introspection'. I see that as an attempt to garner sympathy for sub par performances. You'd never see Nigel Mansell conduct himsef in such a manner!!! In a non gender specific world we'd say simply 'man up and get on with it'. The team are also at fault for giving Norris all the fame and the post race comments by Stella reflect that viewpoint.. If the Spa results were reversed it'd be ' Norris the great performs epic drive onto the podium, against all odds.' With a few new hot shoe youngsters coming on stream the competition looks promising. If only we had eleven teams...."

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

2. Posted by Mad Matt, 31/07/2024 15:52

"@kenji My impression was that the subdued reaction was more because they had been expecting a "one, two" and that overtaking turned out to be harder than expected.

I have the feeling that they over reacted to last year's (was it last year?) mistake when they went high down force and got killed on the straights so this year they weren't that fast on the straights but also suffered in the corners.... just a feeling..."

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

3. Posted by kenji, 30/07/2024 0:29

"I was rather hoping to hear more positive support for Oscar's brilliant drive on Sunday from McLaren but instead it's been extremely subdued with Stella in particular! Brown has not been quoted anywhere AFAIK? Now why would this be so? I do think, once again, that it was the wrong driver bringing home the 'bacon' from a McLaren viewpoint. According to Stella, Piastri drove 'a very determined race, and he was impressed to see him there in the end'! Is that it? Third place is a great effort and by actually having gained a podium he was able to move even further up the ladder when the winner was excluded. Maybe they think that Oscar should've yielded to Norris at the first corner however young Oscar has 'carpe diemed' and is showing his potential whenever he sniffs a chink in the armour. Maybe I'm seeing shadows when there aren't any really but it does seem out of character for Zak Brown to cease his public proclamations. Watching Mark Webbers face when Oscar took his place on the podium was sheer happiness as Webber was a disruptor of the status quo as well. May Piastri continue his ascension and mount a challenge at every track. He's a very 'determined' young man."

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

4. Posted by Chester, 29/07/2024 14:05

"Lando may be headed down the Mark Webber poor start path. Not sure.

American football quarterback excellence or failure is due in large part to how quickly a quarterback can read the defense in the scant seconds after the ball is snapped. Quick decision making can matter much more than throwing accuracy.

But anyway, I do wonder if his decision making is just slightly slower than others. The start is quite different than perfecting a pass in a one on one racing situation. "

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

5. Posted by Mad Matt, 29/07/2024 13:05

"@Wokingchap I tend to agree, perhaps Lando could have got Max with an earlier pit stop but overall a good race from both of them and especially from Oscar."

Rating: Positive (4) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

6. Posted by Wokingchap, 29/07/2024 11:55

"Absolutely right Lando, come back stronger and smarter after the break.
Huge respect for Lando and Oscar, i for one fully appreciate their self criticism, unlike other drivers who almost never do."

Rating: Positive (2) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

Norris rues another duff start

LATEST NEWS

RELATED ARTICLES

LATEST IMAGES

POST A COMMENT

Post your comment

READERS COMMENTS

Share this page