22/07/2024
NEWS STORY
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."
Check out our Sunday gallery from the Hungaroring here.