Lando Norris climbs onto the podium and deprives Oscar Piastri of the joy of a home podium
McLaren's drivers took advantage of Max Verstappen's retirement to score big points and most importantly put a McLaren on the podium. It was Lando Norris who was able to seize this opportunity, leaving his young teammate in the worst place at home: P4.
Lando Norris had set the third-best time in qualifying on Saturday, just 2 tenths behind Carlos Sainz and over a tenth ahead of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari. So, it was clear that the battle would be intense between the Ferraris and the McLarens.
However, if Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari was able to gain the advantage in race pace, notably thanks to a perfectly executed pit stop allowing Leclerc to never be stuck in traffic, Lando Norris took advantage of Max Verstappen’s retirement to climb onto a podium he had given up hoping for.
(c) It’s a very beautiful day for us, very happy, proud of the team. This places us third in the championship. We missed a little opportunity with Charles [Leclerc] because I think we were faster than him. No doubt our pace was enough to go for second place but Carlos [Sainz] did a very good job, he was fast all weekend.
« I was able to check the condition of the tires today so it was a good step forward. I wasn’t expecting a podium. » he detailed on the microphone of Günther Steiner, now a consultant for F1 and some televisions.
This track suits us a little better and we were able to find some speed, but there is still a step to be taken to get closer to Red Bull and Ferrari, maybe even two steps for Red Bull.
« We are getting closer, we proved it on a day like this. I want to say thank you to McLaren. We are getting closer to our goal, we achieve another podium and I hope we will have many more. » finishes Lando Norris.
McLaren favored Norris over Piastri.
The McLaren driver thus leads his teammate, Oscar Piastri, an Australian, depriving one of the two home drivers of stepping onto the podium in front of their fans.
As Oscar Piastri pitted on the 9th lap, Lando Norris was able to take advantage of tyres 6 laps fresher to overtake his teammate at mid-race, on lap 29 precisely. Oscar Piastri was ordered on the radio to change positions in order, at this stage, to give a chance to at least one of the McLarens to get on the podium.
It was without counting on the good performance of the hard tires of the second McLaren driver who managed to stay close to Lando Norris and finish the race in 4th place, less than 10 seconds behind.
This decision by the team on lap 29 to let the fastest driver pass earned Lando Norris some boos on the podium, probably from some disappointed Australian fans.
