Summary:
- Lando Norris offered his first reaction following the Hungarian Grand Prix controversy.
- The Briton allowed team-mate Oscar Piastri to win the race at the Hungaroring following 20 controversial laps.
- Norris wrangled over the team’s repeated radio requests to give Piastri his lead position back after he lost it due to the team’s pit-stop strategy.
What was supposed to be an exciting first Grand Prix victory for McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in Hungary on Sunday turned into a win shrouded in controversy for the Aussie for surprising reasons related to intra-team drama with team-mate Lando Norris, who UK gamblers hopes of finished 3rd last race.
The Briton appeared to refuse his team’s radio orders to give Piastri back the lead after the latter lost it because of the team’s chosen pit-stop strategy.
Instead, Norris kept undercutting his team-mate for 20 laps. At the end of the race, Norris said he wanted to act in a “fair” manner, insisting he never intended not to surrender the lead at the Hungaroring to the Aussie.
Norris: “I Got Put Into the Lead Rather Than Wanting To.”
It only took the first corner at the Hungarian race track for pole-sitter Norris to lose the lead to team-mate Piastri.
The British driver who was aiming for a second career F1 victory and an opportunity to get closer to world championship leader Max Verstappen, soon found himself back in front of Piastri after McLaren enabled him to take his second pit stop before his team-mate.
The team’s decision was tactical and it was meant to stop Lewis Hamilton who won the previous race from undercutting them.
While the Aussie was assured Norris would give his position back, things didn’t unfold as expected.
Norris commented on the incidents that overshadowed Piastri’s win, saying he
Got put into the lead rather than wanting to, which made things way too hard and tricky for the team. We should have just boxed Oscar first and things would have been simple.
Instead, he was given back the lead, which he eventually gave back to Piastri.
I shouldn’t have won today, I didn’t deserve to win because of my start and Oscar had a good start.
The Briton also conceded that while it was hurtful to give up yet another victory after he missed out on the opportunities to come out victorious at Silverstone and Austria, he wishes to be labelled as a “fair” driver.
“I had a lot of trust in the team and Lando“, Piastri commented for Sky Sports F1, adding that while Norris “was fast at the end”, it was “a fair decision” to swap them back at the end.
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