Lando Norris took his missed victory in stride after finishing second to teammate Oscar Piastri at the Belgian Grand Prix.
“Oscar just did a good job at the start. Nothing more to say,” Norris admitted after the race.
The Grand Prix started nearly 90 minutes late due to dangerous spray and visibility issues on the wet track.
When racing finally began with a rolling start, Norris couldn’t convert his pole position into a win. Piastri made a bold move, committing harder through the famous Eau Rouge corner before using the slipstream to blast past his teammate on the straight after Radillon.
“He committed a bit more through Eau Rouge, and had the slipstream and got the run,” Norris explained. “So nothing to complain of. He did a better job in the beginning, and that was it.”
The British driver showed impressive pace in the closing laps but couldn’t mount a serious challenge on the hard tires.
Several small mistakes while running on those hard tires ultimately cost Norris his chance to fight for the win.
When asked about those errors, he shrugged it off: “It’s shoulda, woulda, coulda. Oscar deserved it. I’m sure he made a couple of mistakes, so if he drove a perfect race, I couldn’t have won today.”
The result denied Norris what would have been his third straight victory after recent wins at both the Austrian and British Grands Prix.
Despite the disappointment, he remained upbeat about McLaren’s strong showing.
“I’m still happy for the team. Another one-two. I think our first here for many, many years. A well-deserved result for them and Oscar, too.”
The championship battle between the McLaren teammates remains incredibly tight with just 16 points separating them.
Norris is already looking ahead to the next race. “Budapest is one the best ones for me, in terms of just what I’ve done there in the past years, and it’s where I started my Formula 1 career. So, always good memories.”
“I’m happy with today. Slightly disappointed, but of course looking forward to next week,” he concluded.
