F1 News

Lando Norris admits that he was unsure what to do in Hungarian GP

Does Norris regret his decision? 'Got to be selfish in this sport'

21 July at 17:22
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  • Toby Nixon
  • Editor

Lando Norris conceded a certain race victory to teammate Oscar Piastri at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The Australian won his first race at the Hungaroring as Lando Norris let Piastri by in the closing stages. Polesitter Norris has admitted in the post-race press conference that he wasn't sure whether or not to let his teammate through, as 'priority number one' is to think of yourself first in F1.

"Things are always going to go through your mind because you have got to be selfish in this sport at times," Norris began. "You've got to think of yourself. That's priority number one, is to think of yourself. I'm also a team player, so my mind was going pretty crazy at the time. I know what we've done in the past between Oscar and myself, and he's helped me plenty of times. I think this is a different situation. This is not someone helping one another. I was put into a position and we were undoing that position change." Norris explained

Norris 'optimistic' McLaren can close down Red Bull

The Brit is also thinking about the driver's championship, revealing how he felt like he might've lost some crucial points in his championship battle with Max Verstappen today. "I get it and I know a lot of people are going to say the gap between me and Max is pretty big. But, if Red Bull and Max make the mistakes like they did today and continue to do that, and as a team, we continue to improve and have weekends like we've had this weekend, we can turn it around. It's still optimistic. It's still a big goal to say we can close 70 points. And as a driver, I can close 70 points in half a season. Then when you're thinking of the seven or six points that I give away then it crosses your mind for sure." 

So, will Norris be more selfish in the future? "It depends. I think that I was put in this situation and it's not my fault I was leading the race in a way. Simply the team should have just boxed Oscar first and we wouldn't even be having this discussion. It’s not that. I think just as a team, maybe we could have done things slightly differently, and I'm sure we'll talk about it." Norris concluded.