Lando Norris' expected bid for victory did not materialise in a disappointing race for the McLaren driver; Norris dropped two points to Max Verstappen in title chase; Team-mate Oscar Piastri takes second although left with strategy regrets
Monday 29 July 2024 10:15, UK
A frustrated Lando Norris said he felt as though he had “messed up” another race after a disappointing Belgian Grand Prix saw him finish behind title rival Max Verstappen.
For the second weekend running, Norris was overtaken by team-mate Oscar Piastri into the first corner, with the Briton then losing more ground by running out wide over the La Source hairpin kerb in a moment he admits "ruined my whole race".
He was then undercut by Verstappen at the first round of stops, with Norris unable to get back ahead over the remainder of the race despite appearing to have superior pace.
"From a team side, super happy," said Norris after McLaren cut Red Bull's lead in the Constructors' Championship to 42 points.
"I just feel the last few races I've messed up a lot and given away a lot of points.
"Just need maybe a little reset and come back stronger."
Norris heads in to the four-week summer break with a deficit of 78 points to Verstappen in the Drivers' Championship after the Dutchman outscored him by two points on Sunday.
"Pace in the car was good, maybe could have been a little bit more aggressive, but I was happy otherwise," Norris added to Sky Sports F1.
"I felt like the pace was good but dirty air cost you so much, and I was always in the dirty air.
"The few laps when I was behind Carlos [Sainz] at the end of the first stint running a bit long, the car felt good and it started to come alive a little bit.
"But we undercut Carlos, ended up finishing nine seconds ahead, so the pace felt a little bit better but couldn't do anything with it,"
Positions lost on the opening lap have proved a recurring theme for Norris recently, while the 24-year-old has seen a number of chances to add to his maiden grand prix win at May's Miami GP squandered through either mistakes on his part or strategy miscues from the team.
Team boss Andrea Stella said: "These kind of situations are always very, very marginal. Having Lando a bit distracted from what was happening on the inside, and ran out of track, is a marginal thing.
"We work with Lando, like Oscar, to see all the opportunities in which we can improve individually but also collaborate better to either be more prepared, or to use better of our abilities and talents.
"I think it doesn't necessarily change our attitude but definitely gives us some elements to analyse as to how some of these missed opportunities manifest themselves.
"Like for Lando, for instance, it looks like there's statistically some opportunities that tend to happen in the early stages of the race.
"So we need to check whether this is the early stages of the race for a reason, or is it just random. But like any other athlete, or any other driver, I think Lando himself will learn, with the team, what he can do better to make sure we capitalise on the good work we are doing.
Having started one place behind his team-mate, Piastri finished three ahead of him after another strong race from the Australian a week on from his own maiden grand prix win in Hungary.
A charging finish saw him cross the line on the tail of Mercedes duo Russell and Lewis Hamilton, with his third-place eventually upgraded to second behind the latter after the post race disqualification of the race winner.
However, Piastri admitted he and McLaren could have been bolder with their strategy like the one-stopping Russell, having held track position and a five-second lead over the Briton before his lap-30 second stop.
That second visit to the pits was also compromised slightly by Piastri coming in too hot into the team's pit box and overshooting his marks, costing him time.
On the decision to pit twice, Piastri told Sky Sports F1: "A one-stop crossed my mind but I thought it would be risky.
"Clearly it was the right thing to do, but it was a massive risk. We did a good job of executing the two-stop strategy. It did cross my mind and I kind of wish I pushed harder for it now, but I wasn't fully convinced."
Like most drivers, the Australian said his car's pace was hard to truly unlock when running behind other cars around the high-speed Spa-Francorchamps lap.
"Car was very quick," he said.
"The name of the game was getting in clean air. The car felt pretty average in the first stint and in the second stint, as soon as everyone got out of the way, I went one second faster and obviously the car doesn't change from one lap to the next, I just had clean air."
Formula 1 returns after the summer break with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on August 23-25, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership - No contract, cancel anytime
