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‘The team told me not to do it’ – Norris opens up about his plan to switch positions with Piastri in Qatar Sprint
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Lando Norris has opened up about the thinking behind his decision to allow Oscar Piastri through to take victory in the Qatar Sprint at the last corner, with the Briton claiming that the team had told him not to do it but that he “thought [it] was best”.
After leading the 19-lap event from pole position, Norris dropped back towards Piastri during the final tour before suddenly moving aside ahead of the chequered flag. This enabled Piastri to take the win, a repayment move from Norris after Piastri had done the same for him in the Sao Paulo Sprint to support the Briton’s title bid.
The result has also given McLaren a boost as they look to secure the constructors’ championship, with the one-two extending their lead over Ferrari to 30 points.
Asked after the Sprint if he was concerned about not being able to orchestrate the switch – given that Mercedes’ George Russell was hot on the tail of Piastri right to the end – Norris responded: “It was probably a bit closer than what I was wanting, but I’d planned to do it since Brazil.
“Just what I thought was best. It’s probably a little bit sketchy, the team told me not to do it but I thought I could get away with it and we did. Honestly I don’t mind.
“I’m not here to win Sprint races, I’m here to win races and a championship, but that’s not gone to plan. I did the best we could and I look forward to tomorrow.”
2024 Qatar GP Sprint: Norris hands Piastri victory at the final corner
Pushed on whether he had a lot of pace in hand, the 25-year-old added: “A little bit, it’s always difficult to know. But we scored a one-two, that’s what we were aiming for today. We’ve got maximum points so we’re happy.
“We’re happy as a team, we’ve executed things perfectly and I think the pace was good. I probably could have pushed a little bit more than what I was doing, but we wanted to keep the others behind so we tried to help out and not let George get too close. We did our job and that’s the main thing.”
AS IT HAPPENED: Follow all the action from the F1 Sprint in Qatar
Norris also acknowledged that he is expecting a potentially tricky race on Sunday, with the Lusail International Circuit often presenting a physical challenge for the drivers.
“It was tough. My neck’s not too happy,” he conceded. “It’s going to be a difficult race tomorrow. These conditions, these cold conditions, the wind, it’s a lot quicker than last year. It’s even more physical which I didn’t think was possible. It’s tricky but that’s a challenge we’ve got to deal with. I need to hit the gym maybe a bit more, but all good otherwise.”
Piastri, meanwhile, praised the teamwork enacted by McLaren after adding to his Sprint wins tally, having also taken P1 in the 100km dash in Qatar last year.
Piastri has now added a second victory in the Qatar Sprint to his name
“It was about defence for the whole race, to be honest,” the Australian said of his Sprint, in which he faced more than one challenge from Russell. “I had a good start and a good Turn 1 obviously, and then just didn’t quite have the pace.
“I think I killed the front [tyre] a little bit early on and then I was struggling a bit for the rest of the Sprint. Some great teamwork, I think without that help it would have been a much more difficult Sprint. Nice to have a McLaren one-two.”
Looking ahead to preparations for qualifying later on Saturday, Piastri commented: “To be honest here it’s probably the smallest change from qualifying to the race. I think in a lot of places it’s six or seven seconds and the grip feels much different here.
“We’re still pushing pretty much flat-out in the race. It’ll be a change for sure, but I think we’ve got a few tweaks we want to try and make, and hopefully we make the car a bit quicker and make the driver a bit quicker as well.”
And in terms of whether he can put himself in the battle for pole position, the 23-year-old answered: “I think so, yeah. It’s very, very tight. I think from first to fifth or sixth was only two or three-tenths so there’s not much margin for error. I think we’ve got a few things we can improve a bit and I think we’re in for a shout, but everyone’s keeping us on our toes.”
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