“Drivers interest vs. Team’s interest!” Christian Horner gives his take on Lando Norris – McLaren drama from Hungarian GP
Lando Norris was not a happy chap at the end of the 70-lap Budapest event.
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Andrea Stella, Lando Norris, and Christian Horner (Via: Imago)
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri secured his maiden Grand Prix win in F1 at the Hungarian GP. It was a memorable moment for the Australian, but what happened during the closing stages of the race between Lando Norris and McLaren, has amassed more attention.
Lando Norris was in a heated radio tussle with the Woking-based team over slowing down to let Oscar Piastri take the lead. Norris did eventually agree to the demands but this whole saga has got the world talking about it, including Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner.
The Brit feels there was no need for McLaren to over-complicate things during the closing stages of the 70-lap Hungarian GP.
They didn’t need to make life that complicated for themselves, they were in a pretty comfortable situation. They chose to pit Lando two laps early, which in usual practice, unless you want your tail car ahead, is to pit the lead car first.Christian Horner via Pitdebrief
Horner went on further to add the following.
Then they gave themselves a lot of work to do to reset that at the back end of the race. Obviously that’s their business, but they perhaps didn’t need to create that problem. The drivers’ interest versus the team’s interest. There’s always a conflict.Christian Horner via the same interview
Looking at the reaction of the Red Bull boss, it is quite clear that in his opinion, McLaren could have done things without any complications. He feels there will always be a conflict between a driver and a team during crucial Grand Prix moments and thus, thinks Andrea Stella and Co. could have handled the whole Budapest situation better.
Fred Vasseur feels Hungarian GP saga was ‘harsh’ on Oscar Piastri
While Horner has given his take on the Norris – McLaren situation from Hungarian GP, Ferrari boss, Fred Vasseur is of the opinion that the whole back-and-forth tussle was harsh on Oscar Piastri. The young Australian simply followed team orders after getting the jump on Norris on the first lap of the race.
Moreover, before his final pitstop, Piastri had a comfortable lead over Norris who was running in second.
I don’t know why they did the undercut with Norris on Piastri, perhaps they had good reasons with the other cars around, I don’t want to make any comment on this. But then for sure I can perfectly understand that for Piastri it’s a bit harsh, he’s leading the race, he’s doing a good job, and your teammate is doing the undercut on you, it’s a bit harsh.Fred Vasseur said via Pitdebrief
The Hungarian GP is done and dusted, this week, it is the final race before the 2024 F1 summer break. The carnival has moved to the iconic Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian GP and from McLaren’s point of view, it will be good to clear things out completely before the start of the race weekend. Otherwise, things could get heated again over team radio during the main race.
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Rishabh Negi
(3244 Articles Published)