Lando Norris complains Oscar Piastri ‘got too close for comfort’ on Lap 1 at Monza
"We both could have been out at that corner if I braked one metre later."
Lando Norris was unimpressed with Oscar Piastri's aggressive manoeuvre on the opening lap of the F1 Italian Grand Prix.
Norris once again lost the lead when starting from pole position, losing out to Piastri into Turn 4.
The British driver was caught out by Piastri, who pulled off a bold move on the outside of the corner.
It proved to be a decisive moment in the race as Norris was beaten by Piastri, while both McLarens finished behind Charles Leclerc on the one-stop strategy.
Speaking to Sky after the race, Norris admitted he was a “little bit” surprised by Piastri.
“A little bit. I would have just braked later, if I needed to,” Norris said. “There was a big gap behind us, there was no risk. I feel like he got way too close for comfort. We both could have been out at that corner if I braked one metre later.
“If I could rewind, I’d do stuff slightly differently. Oscar drove a good race and so did Charles.”
McLaren’s decision to go on a two-stop strategy handed Leclerc the race lead, which he held onto despite a fast-charging Piastri in the closing laps.
Norris believes McLaren wouldn’t have been able to pull off a one-stop strategy like Ferrari due to a “weakness” in front tyre degradation.
“No, maybe… Charles won by two seconds in the end,” Norris added. “The fact that he got ahead probably gained him two seconds over the course of the race. Maybe, I don’t know…
“They did something with strategy that we would not be able to achieve today. We thought of the one-stop, we were ready for it, but we could not achieve it. Our degradation was too high from the front tyres. That’s a weakness from us, at the minute.
“At the rear we are strong, and that’s why we’ve been strong at different races. But today was a question of front deg and we struggled too much. Clearly, Charles and the Ferrari were better than us in that perspective.
“We were ready for that, for someone else to be better on the tyres, and it turned out to be the Ferraris.”
Do McLaren take enough risks?
One criticism that has been put towards McLaren is that do they take enough risks with strategy?
Monza wasn’t the first time McLaren have thrown away a potential win due to strategy.
When asked whether McLaren ‘are risk averse’, he said: “Hindsight is a wonderful thing. We always review things. Today was not our day, we did not get things correct. I wouldn’t say we got them wrong today either. I certainly couldn’t have done a one-stop.
“Being the second car is tougher than being the first car - that’s racing. Keeping up with Oscar meant I had to use more tyres, and using more tyre meant that I boxed earlier. That’s the price I paid for not being in the clean air. We both suffered more than the Ferrari.
“There was not a lot we could’ve done at the time. If we could go back and review things, change things, we could prepare even more for it. I feel like we maximised today, we just didn’t have what Ferrari had.”
