McLaren lost the Italian GP despite locking out the first row along with the crucial points to close the gap in the driver’s championship. Following that, Oscar Piastri received backlash from Norris’s fans on social media as they think it was the Australian’s first lap move on that cost Norris.
When Oscar made the move from the outside in the second chicane, it unsettled Norris and allowed Charles Leclerc to climb to second. Once they settled into their positions, McLaren told its drivers that they were free to race, which led both of them to push extra hard in the first stint and were eventually forced to do a two-stop strategy.
the overtake that secured the win. charles leclerc, the man that you are. pic.twitter.com/3RPsOEsW0a
— Dee (@tifosasainz) September 2, 2024
On the other hand, Leclerc managed to nurse his tires in both stints and eventually win the race on 38-lap old hard tires. Looking back at the race, F1 journalist Christian Hewgill explained on ‘The Fast and The Curious’ podcast how it wasn’t Piastri’s fault for overtaking Norris as he was allowed to race his teammate.
“This is not Oscar Piastri’s fault, Oscar is getting all sorts of stick on social media I suspect from the Lando Norris super fans, but McLaren has made this decision, ‘You guys can race’ and Oscar did race… he is competitive he’s not there to look after Lando Norris unless he is told by his team you’re there to look after Lando Norris in which case I firmly believe Oscar would,” Christian remarked.
According to Hewgill, it was the entire first stint where McLaren pushed hard that ultimately cost them the race. However, Piastri isn’t the only one facing backlash from the F1 community. Norris too is being criticised as he once again fumbled his race start which has already cost him wins this season.
Mercedes simulator driver defends Norris on his poor race starts
Norris has taken 5 pole positions in Formula 1 so far but has never led the first lap on any of those occasions. While many believe that Norris is not good at starting a race from pole, Mercedes sim driver Anthony Davidson thinks that perhaps it’s not Norris’ fault.
In a conversation on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Davidson explained how the modern F1 cars execute code during the race start procedure. It has to be in sync with the driver’s inputs to get the perfect launch. He believes that McLaren has not been able to fine-tune its systems which is causing the poor starts for the 24-year-old.
“I don’t think it’s a driver issue myself,” Davidson noted. “Surely drivers do get the odd start that doesn’t completely go their way because it’s a muscle memory thing, they’re practicing this all the time.”
And if that is indeed the case, it’s up to both the drivers and the team to look into this thoroughly and get it fixed.
