Lando Norris admitted he did not feel “too proud” for casting a cloud over Oscar Piastri’s first win in Formula One, writes Philip Duncan from PA.
Piastri claimed his maiden triumph in just his second season at last weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix as McLaren took their first one-two finish in nearly three years.
But the result was overshadowed by Norris’ radio row with his race engineer, Will Joseph, in which the Englishman admitted he considered defying an order to let Piastri through.
Pole man Norris, 24, lost the lead to Piastri at the start only to regain top spot after he was pulled in for his final tyre change two laps before his team-mate.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, Norris said: “Could it have been handled slightly differently from both a team side and personally? Yes, absolutely.
“People on the outside are going to come up with their own stories of what happened, and what I would and wouldn’t have done, and I don’t mind that.
“But there’s things that I could have done and the fact I clouded Oscar’s first race win in Formula One is something I’ve not felt too proud about.
“We had a one-two finish, and there was barely a headline about that after the race. Those are the bits that I’ve felt worse about.”
Norris was asked by Joseph to allow Piastri, 23, by at “his convenience” after his team-mate stopped on lap 47 of 70. However, Norris only moved aside with three laps remaining.
Norris, 76 points behind Max Verstappen in the standings, continued: “I should have let him past straight away.
“It’s such a stupid thing that I didn’t because we were free to race, and I could still have tried to overtake him and won the race. It sounds so simple now but it’s not something that went through my head at the time.”
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