‘I was on the brink of defying orders’
Lando Norris speaks out after row with McLaren team bosses during Hungarian GP
LANDO Norris admitted he was on the brink of defying a McLaren order following a controversial Hungarian Grand Prix won by his team-mate Oscar Piastri.
Somerset-raised Norris took eight points out of Max Verstappen’s championship lead after the Dutchman - who again collided with old foe Lewis Hamilton - could finish only fifth.
But Norris will have left the sizzling Hungaroring, pondering if McLaren’s instruction to move aside for Piastri could end up costing him his maiden world championship.
Norris is 76 points behind Verstappen, but he would have headed to next weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix 69 behind the Red Bull driver if McLaren allowed him to win here.
For his part, Norris, 24, said he only had himself to blame. A mediocre start from the pole man allowed Piastri to take the lead. But Norris was handed an apparent lifeline when McLaren stopped him for fresh rubber two laps earlier than his team-mate on lap 45.
McLaren’s call - which they claimed was to cover off third-placed
Hamilton - propelled Norris into first place. But it was decided that Piastri, who had been in control of the race up until that point, should be handed his maiden win. Norris’ race engineer Will Joseph was handed the unenviable task of convincing the Englishman to make way, or, as he put it, “re-establish the order”.
Following a series of heated exchanges between driver and team, Norris eventually relinquished his near-six-second lead on the 68th lap of 70, slowing down on the main straight in clear view of the McLaren pit-wall. A point made, perhaps.
“You don’t need to say anything,” he promptly said over the radio.