Lando Norris has expressed dissatisfaction with the manner in which his victory in the Brazilian sprint race was achieved. In the final stages of the shortened race, McLaren decided to have Norris swap places with race leader Oscar Piastri, allowing the Brit to secure crucial points for the drivers’ championship. Meanwhile, Piastri seems to have accepted his team’s decision.
There was a confusing moment in the press conference following the sprint race in São Paulo. A journalist congratulated Oscar Piastri on winning the sprint race, even though the Australian had just crossed the finish line in second place. Piastri thanked the journalist, though he wasn’t exactly sure what he had won. The Australian was on track to win the sprint, but towards the end of the race, he stepped aside for his teammate.
Piastri explains why he decided to make way for Norris. “The long-term goal (of McLaren) is to win everything,” Piastri says. “In the short term, however, there are two titles to win, and I’m only involved in one.”
‘We are a team and we have a boss’
Lando Norris agrees with his teammate’s explanation. “As Oscar says, we’re fighting for both the constructors’ and the drivers’ title.” With his victory in the sprint race, the Brit has closed the gap on Verstappen in the drivers’ championship by two points. However, the Brit is not entirely happy with how his victory came about.
“I’m not proud of how I won today. So, I’m actually quite glad you’re congratulating Oscar,” Norris refers to the journalist’s earlier confusion. “I want to do better in the qualifying later. We want to avoid (team orders) as much as possible, but at the same time, we signed up for this. We have to work together as a team, we do what we have to do, we have a boss, and we do our best to help each other,” Norris explains the decision for the swap at McLaren.
