Lando Norris Breaks Silence on Botched McLaren Pitstop Before Team Orders at Italian GP

Lando Norris was given track position by Oscar Piastri after a pitstop error forced the Briton to P3 at the Italian GP.

Lando Norris Breaks Silence on Botched McLaren Pitstop Before Team Orders at Italian GP

Lando Norris (via McLaren), Oscar Piastri (via XPB Images)

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The championship battle between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri is heating up. At the Italian GP, the Briton had an advantage against his teammate. However, a botched pitstop put the 25-year-old on the backfoot. Now, Norris has opened up over the situation after the race.

Lando Norris started the Italian GP from P2, right behind pole-sitter Max Verstappen. The reigning world champion was forced to give the lead to the Briton after he cut the chicane. Unfortunately, Norris’ lead didn’t last long as Verstappen flew off into the distance.

The British driver was comfortably in second place with Oscar Piastri running in P3. However, Lando Norris had a slow pitstop which allowed the Australian to move up to second place. McLaren ultimately instructed Piastri to hand back the position to maintain a fair title fight.

Lando Norris was not happy with the pitstop incident. The 25-year-old admitted that he had no clue why there was a delay. Though, the Briton acknowledgement that such mistakes can happen, and it was important to take it as a team.

No idea [with the pit stop] but I guess every now and then we make mistakes as a team, and today was one of them.

Lando Norris said post-race

After this race, Lando Norris trails behind Piastri by a gap of 31 points, 3 less than the previous race. However, Oscar Piastri did not seem so content with the team’s decision after the race.

Lando Norris accepts defeat to ‘deserving’ Max Verstappen

The Italian GP was a surprising weekend. Reigning world champion Max Verstappen managed to end his recent winless streak to take a dominant victory. The Dutchman might’ve had to give up the lead at first, but he managed to pull off a stellar drive. Norris ended the race over 20 seconds behind the Red Bull.

Lando Norris and Max Verstappen (via Red Bull)
Lando Norris and Max Verstappen (via Red Bull)

Lando Norris insisted that he pushed himself to the limit. But this was simply not enough to pose a real threat to Max Verstappen. The McLaren star accepted that the reigning world champion really did deserve to be the winner at Monza. Not only did Verstappen dominate the race, his victory is the fastest in the history of Formula 1.

I did everything I could today, I couldn’t do a lot more. I tried to fight with Max but he came out on top and deserved it.

Lando Norris added

Certainly, Lando Norris wouldn’t be bummed after the Italian GP. The Briton got the best result he could and narrowly reduced the gap to Piastri. However, Norris will need more than just a three-point gain per race if he wants to be in a comfortable position in the title fight. Thus, the 25-year-old has no time to rest. On the other hand, Oscar Piastri will only be looking to bounce back stronger.

Read More: Lewis Hamilton Declares He’s ‘Really, Really Happy’ After Positive Italian GP Qualifying