Lando Norris believes his team-mate Oscar Piastri was the rightful winner of the Belgian Grand Prix, dismissing ideas that he could have caught him if he’d maintained a perfect performance.
The McLaren driver, speaking after the rainy race at Spa-Francorchamps, admitted that Piastri “did a better job at the beginning,” with the Australian commanding the grand prix after he overtook Norris on the first racing lap.
“Oscar just did a good job [at the start]. Nothing more to say. Committed a bit more through Eau Rouge, and had the slipstream and got the run.
“So nothing to complain of. He did a better job in the beginning, and that was it. Nothing more I could do after that point. I would love to be up top, but Oscar deserved it today.”
With the Briton on the hard tyre compared to Piastri’s mediums, it was a possibility that the Australian would have to make his race a two-stop while Norris went long. But this failed to come to fruition, with Piastri managing to nurse his tyres through to the end of the race.
Lando Norris, McLaren
Photo by: Simon Wohlfahrt / AFP via Getty Images
Norris slowly clawed closer to Piastri, but made a number of mistakes as his hard tyres started to fail. Pushed on whether he could have reached his team-mate if he had driven a perfect race, he admitted there would still be no catching Piastri.
“It’s shoulda, woulda, coulda. Oscar deserved it. I’m sure he made a couple of mistakes, so if he drove a perfect race, I couldn’t have won today. I’ll review my things.
“But I’m still happy for the team. Another one-two. I think our first here for many, many years. A well-deserved result for them and Oscar, too.”
Next week the circus heads to Hungary – a race that Norris believes will suit him better.
“Budapest is one of the best ones for me, in terms of what I’ve done there in the past years, and it’s where I started my Formula 1 career. So, always good memories, and normally one that suits me a bit better than Spa.
“I’m happy with today. Slightly disappointed, but of course looking forward to next week.”
Piastri finished first, followed by Norris, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc rounded out the podium.
In this article
Be the first to know and subscribe for real-time news email updates on these topics
