Despite Raging Over McLaren Error, Lando Norris Held Nerves to Protect Oscar Piastri From Looming Disaster

All it takes is one bad call, and the whole race is trashed. The same happened with poor Lando Norris, whose requests were not heard by the McLaren team which led to a flurry of outbursts. Yet Lando Norris didn’t let his rage take over and held his nerves to protect Oscar Piastri from a looming disaster. What was this disaster and what did Norris do to protect his rookie teammate?

McLaren and Lando Norris fell on the wrong side of strategic calls when the rain first hit the circuit just after the light went out. The ideal strategy would’ve been to come in, however, Norris was asked to stay out and brave the rain. The young Brit asked his team multiple times to box him but the team resisted. When all was lost, Norris radioed his team and said “Box, mate. We’re too slow,” to which the engineer replied, “We are faster than Inters cars.” A raging Norris said “What the… Are you f**king stupid, mate?”

However, Lando kept his cool, overtook many cars, and got himself in the Top 10. However, in the final laps, rain struck the track once again, this time heavier than the first time around. As Lando was making it into the pits he realized how much standing water there was in the pitlane and radioed his team, “Tell Oscar it’s aquaplaning on pit entry.” Lando Norris had Oscar Piastri on his mind even during such conditions. 

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Just goes on to show the bond that the two have developed over such a short period of time. Even Sergio Perez aquaplaned into the pit lane and hit a wall. Norris’ team radio very much echoed what Aston Martin’s drivers have been doing for their teammates the whole season. Let’s see what Norris’ race debrief was. 

Lando Norris advises that some incorrect decisions cost McLaren dearly

McLaren tried to stay out on the slicks during the rain at the start of the race as it was only predicted for 2-3 minutes. However, it turned out to be much longer and McLaren made their strategy look silly. Regardless, Lando Norris suggested that the positive is how the team managed to finish in the points. However, if it wasn’t for the bad decisions, it could’ve been so much more for the team. 

According to @TheMcLarenZone’s tweet, Lando Norris said “If I start by looking at the final positions, we got some points, which is a good thing but not as many as we should have got today. We made some incorrect decisions and on a day like today, that can win or lose you a lot of time.”

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What do you make of McLaren’s calls at the Dutch GP?