Lando Norris: « If there’s anyone I’d rather see win, it’s a Ferrari at Monza »

McLaren managed to collect some points this weekend in Monza. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri respectively took third and second place on the podium. Just behind his teammate, the Briton had some disagreements on the track. While he had started in pole position, after just one turn of the race, he was overtaken by Oscar Piastri. A battle for the oranges that should have been avoided according to Lando Norris.

Disagreements with his teammate

The British driver started the Grand Prix in the lead just ahead of his teammate. Although he managed to keep his position at the first turn, he was quickly overtaken by the Australian followed by Charles Leclerc. Subsequently, Oscar Piastri led much of the race until he yielded his place to the Monegasque for an additional pit stop. Oscar Piastri’s maneuver quickly sparked controversy. While Formula 1 teams do not prohibit overtaking between teammates, they still require drivers to maintain a reasonable distance. According to Lando Norris, the distance was far from being respected.

When he discussed the situation with the media, the Briton acknowledged that overtaking his teammate could have had more serious consequences. “I think he got too close for comfort – we both could have ended up in the turn if I had braked a meter later,” he said. “Obviously, if I could go back, I would do things slightly differently, but that’s how it is. Oscar drove well, and so did Charles.”

Recently, Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren, spoke about the situation. McLaren has introduced the “papaya rules” in the team: “race against your teammate in a tough way, but race cleanly, do not touch each other” explained the director on the radio. But this incident occurred at the Italian Grand Prix, which forced the team to have a more in-depth discussion about the rules on the track. If there was no contact, the technical teams were not satisfied with Oscar Piastri’s aggressive overtaking.

Ferrari has delivered strong performances at Monza.

Despite this change at the beginning of the race, Lando Norris acknowledged that the battle with his teammate was not the only cause of a second and third place. The team’s strategy could also have cost them the one-two finish. “Charles won with two seconds ahead in the end – the fact that he [Oscar Piastri] took the lead probably allowed him to gain those two seconds during the race,” the driver stated. “Charles simply drove well, and they did something with the strategy that we were unable to achieve today,” he added.

Although McLaren missed out on the win, their result allowed them to close the gap with Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship, with only eight points separating the two teams. While the outcome may not be what the fans had hoped for, it was expected by the team. “But we were ready for that, I think we were expecting someone else to be very strong on the tires, and that turned out to be Ferrari. So, yes, if there’s someone I’d rather see win, it’s a Ferrari at Monza, so congratulations to them,” concluded the Briton. Ultimately, despite Ferrari being stronger at Monza, Lando Norris believes that McLaren maximized their performance given the circumstances.