Norris Feels He 'Would Have Overtaken' Piastri After Debatable Team Call In Australia

Sunday, 24 March 2024 at 22:10

Lando Norris finished ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri at the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, but that was also thanks to the team decision.

The two McLaren drivers were quite close at the Albert Park Circuit, but even though Norris qualified higher, he still found himself behind his teammate during the race.

That was because Piastri elected to change his tires already after eight laps, while the British driver waited until Lap 13, and that's why he was overtaken by the Australian, as the undercut worked well in Australia.

It was a home race for Piastri, who certainly wanted to be on the podium, especially after the pole-sitter Max Verstappen was forced to retire his car. However, when Norris started catching up, it became clear that McLaren was standing in front of a big decision.

Ultimately, they order Piastri to let Norris pass him on Lap 29, and the British driver used the opportunity to finish on the podium. Speaking about it after the race, Norris thought that he was the faster driver, and would overtake the home driver regardless.

"It depends how you look at it. I was a lot quicker, and I would have overtaken him anyway. It's just you don't want to delay the process of that happening. And the longer I kind of spent behind him, the worse it was making my chance of catching Charles and trying to be ahead of Charles."

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So, I don't think the result changed at all. He made my life easier and I think he helped us as a team which I thank him for a lot and we have a lot of respect for one another in these kind of situations. But I don't think the result changed at all."

Still, Norris understood Piastri's sitatuon, as the Australian has only one opportunity in a season to race in front of the home fans, and giving his teammate way certainly isn't something he wanted to do in Melbourne.

"But for any driver who's racing in front of their home fans, you want to be on the podium. So I don't think, yeah, I would ever take anything away from that or for what Oscar has provided and helped for in the team. But I don't think the end result changed, no matter what."