F1 News: Lando Norris Clears His Stance On McLaren Team Orders Fiasco In Hungary - 'We’re Free To Race'

Saajan Jogia | Jul 26, 2024

Nov 15, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; McLaren F1 Team driver Lando Norris of Great Britain during media availabilities at Las Vegas Strip Circuit. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports / Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Clearing up the controversy surrounding McLaren's team orders during the Hungarian GP, Lando Norris admitted he made a mistake by not initially letting teammate Oscar Piastri through. He explained that since they were 'free to race,' he should have allowed Piastri to pass and then attempted to overtake him again, rather than causing unnecessary delays.

The race at the Hungaroring saw the Papaya team secure a remarkable 1-2 finish. However, what dominated the headlines were the team orders given to Lando Norris, instructing him to yield his position to teammate Oscar Piastri. Norris's delayed response to these orders sparked widespread speculation and controversy.

Describing his actions as "stupid," Norris clarified that he was fully aware while pitting that he needed to give up his position to Piastri. He emphasized that the delay in complying with the team orders was not due to any reluctance but rather a lapse in execution. Speaking to Crash.net ahead of the Belgian GP, Norris said that he should've 'just let him past straight away'.

He added:

“Such a stupid thing that I didn’t, because we’re free to race. I could have just let him past and still tried to overtake and to race him.

“Sounds so simple now, but it’s not something that went through my head at the time. Such a simple thing like that, I could have done.

“But I was just in a good rhythm, and things were going well at the time. I questioned it at the time, questioned the team a few times.

“But I knew from as soon as they boxed me ahead of him, or before him, that I was going to have to let him go. I was a bit silly and didn’t let him go earlier.”

He explained further:

“Could it have been handled slightly differently from both a team side and a personal side? Yes. Yeah, absolutely.

“And I think we wouldn’t be having this conversation now in some ways. Whether people on the outside think and come up with their own stories of what happened, and what I would have done and wouldn’t have done... I don’t mind about that.

“The things that I could have done, the fact that I clouded over Oscar’s first race win in Formula 1 is something I’ve not felt too proud about.

“The fact we had a 1-2, and that was barely a headline after the race, the fact we had a 1-2 and nothing was really spoken about from that side. That’s the kind of thing I felt worse about.

“Apart from that, we discussed it, we’ve spoken about it, both sides could have done things a bit better and a little bit differently.”