McLaren would’ve been ‘extremely worried’ if Lando Norris was ‘happy’ to give Oscar Pastri Hungarian GP lead

Lando Norris was instructed by his team to give the position back to Oscar Piastri after an early pitstop strategy was implemented by him. McLaren decided to pit the Briton early which gave him an advantage over other drivers to get past quickly. The 24-year-old expressed his hesitation over letting teammate Piastri overtake him.

Team principal Andrea Stella expressed his concerns on Lando Norris‘ feelings when he was leading the race. He pointed out that it’s unusual for a driver who is currently in the lead to be happy about giving up that position and switching back to where he was before. The Italian wanted to highlight that any driver wouldn’t normally give up their lead to someone and especially when they’re close to leading the drivers standing. However, Norris unwillingly accepted the act and let his teammate past him. The Briton stated Oscar Piastri has helped him a lot in the past, so it was fair to give him a chance of winning.

I don't know any race driver that when he's leading a race would be happy to say ‘oh, yeah, of course, why don't we swap back the position to the previous order.

Andrea Stella said, as reported by SkySportsF1

Andrea Stella highlighted that it’s not possible for the drivers to just give up the lead, because it’s not their nature. Everybody is fighting for a win, and letting others get it easy is not any driver’s nature. Stella expressed that he would have been very worried and concerned if Norris had been okay with giving up his position. He thought this could affect his, Piastri, or the team’s relationship with Lando Norris, but that didn’t happen. The Briton was seen congratulating his teammate for winning after the race.

That's not possible, that’s not the nature of the drivers. I would be extremely worried, you would see me very concerned, if Lando would say so.

Andrea Stella added

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McLaren pleased with drivers supporting their trajectory

Andrea Stella stated the meetings held on Sunday’s are to regularly remind drivers of their roles and expectations. Stella mentioned that he’s very happy with how the drivers are helping McLaren move forward and achieve great things. It is important to keep drivers updated with the team goals and the Italian is happy that the drivers are contributing to the team’s success.

With drivers, you need to refresh this message. That’s why we have this meeting every Sunday and we are extremely pleased with how our drivers are supporting the trajectory of McLaren, which is incredible.

Andrea Stella stated

Further, Stella expressed that the weekend was very fulfilling for him. He mentioned there was no good news other than the team achieving first and second position in both qualifying and the race. He highlighted that this was an amazing achievement for the team and found it very remarkable. The team principal especially appreciated Norris for following the orders and letting his teammate go. This created a good impression for him in the team.

For me, that's the news today, but the message is that there's a P1-2 in qualifying and a P1-2 in the race. And that’s incredible.

Andrea Stella added

Certainly, Andrea Stella expressed happiness at achieving such outstanding results. This win led McLaren to capture some crucial points to reduce the gap for the title race. Fans were delighted witnessing the 1-2 by the McLaren duo. They also congratulated Oscar Piastri for his first ever win in Formula 1.

In case you missed it:

• WATCH: “A racing incident,” F1 pundit gives an astute analysis of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton’ mega Hungarian GP crash
• Helmut Marko admits Red Bull at “fault” over Max Verstappen’s Hungarian GP strategy

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