McLaren ordered Lando Norris to give up his lead to Oscar Piastri in the final few laps of the 2024 Hungarian GP. It caused a controversial finish, albeit unnecessarily, because Piastri was ahead before his final pit stop, and would have retained his position had McLaren not made a bizarre strategy call.
McLaren called Norris in for his final pit stop before Piastri, which led to the latter getting undercut. Norris, as a result, took a comfortable lead of the Grand Prix, which he seemingly refused to give up on. After a lot of persuasion, he finally let his teammate pass on lap 68.
F1 journalist Peter Windsor, meanwhile, was hoping for a different outcome. He said,
“I think the coolest thing in the world for Oscar Piastri to say ‘No, I don’t want this win. That’s not the way I want to win a race. Give it to Lando [Norris] – I’ll beat him in some other situation, in some other time.”
A McLaren 1-2
IT FEELS SO GOOD TO SAY THAT AGAIN! #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/xJ11x9F4wJ
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) July 21, 2024
Windsor pointed out that Piastri might have not seen his maiden F1 win as well deserved either. He felt that people around the Aussie tried making him feel better about the situation, but his victory overall, was marred by the strategy fiasco.
Norris should have held his ground against Piastri
Windsor felt that Norris should not have given the win to Piastri. But he added that the Bristol-born driver lost out on his second-ever F1 victory due to his indecisiveness.
Windsor did not criticize Norris’ driving. However, he did point out that at key moments in the race, Norris should have acted in his own interest. For instance, when McLaren was insisting he slowed down for Piastri, Norris should have remained silent.
Peter Windsor is cooking again
Max Verstappen has been carrying the team on his own for a while now. He’s responsible for the points and championships. Instead of criticizing him on the team radio, they should be grateful that he’s out there alone, battling 5 cars due to… pic.twitter.com/OPg3tZsM0d
— Marc | Formula 1 (@433_marc) July 22, 2024
At the same time, it was Norris who got the pole position on Saturday ahead of the race. He missed a chance to hold on to his lead at the start when Piastri jumped him. Had Norris been P1 after the first corner, things could have been very different for him at the end of the race.
