As the race continued to cruise towards the final few laps, chances of Lando Norris letting Oscar Piastri pass seemed to diminish. However, the Briton obeyed the team’s requests, or some might say orders before the chequered flag. Just like anyone watching the race from the comforts of their homes was Piastri’s mother Nicole, and she was as nervous if not more.
Eventually, she saw her son become an F1 race winner but the timing couldn’t be more annoying. It was early morning in Australia and Nicole was supposed to head out for a pilates session. Those plans have gone in the bin now as the family is planning on partying to celebrate the feat.
Nicole revealed her plans through a post on X (formerly Twitter). She wrote, “6 am Pilates just canceled.” The caption followed the popping champagne emoticon.
While the Piastri family can let the celebrations begin, Norris’ father has already had his share. That is because Adam Norris was present at the Hungaroring and congratulated his son in person after the race.
6am Pilates just cancelled
— Nicole Piastri (@NicolePiastri) July 21, 2024
While the sadness of losing yet another race that he could have won was apparent on Lando Norris’ face, he did not let it show in his words. Right after hopping out of his car, he went over to his teammate’s car to shake his hand. In his post-race interview, Norris dodged the tough question with a rather diplomatic response.
The Briton said, “The team asked me to do it so I did it, that’s it.” The response stemmed from his race engineer’s reminder that he needed to play the team game today to plan for the long haul.
William Joseph reminded him, “The way to win a championship is not by yourself. You’re going to need Oscar, and you’re going to need the team.”
Piastri was unsure if Norris would concede the lead
Norris began receiving the instruction to let Piastri pass almost 20 laps before the chequered flag. However, the Briton kept building his lead over the Aussie and at one point was more than six seconds ahead.
However, with just two more laps to go, he paid heed to his race engineer’s requests to finally follow the team’s orders. Piastri, who was beginning to get nervous over Norris’ intentions, revealed,
“The longer you leave it [to switch], the more you get a bit nervous but yeah I think it was the right thing, I put myself in the right position at the start and yes, my pace wasn’t what I wanted in the last stint but well managed by the team.”
