McLaren had a tough day at Monza on Sunday with Lando Norris stuck behind Williams’ Alex Albon for most of the race and Oscar Piastri finishing outside points. However, Norris is glad that he could finish on points. For this, as per F1TV, he credited his team for making some important decisions before the race. Without those, he feels he wouldn’t have finished in the top ten.
McLaren brought in developments to their car ahead of the Italian GP this weekend. Because they suffered from a lack of pace in Spa before the season break, the Woking-based team decided to bring in noticeable changes to the car.
Points for Lando, but it’s a tough one for Oscar who had his race cruelly disrupted late on.
Good effort, team. 👊#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/0LsZHkUxsi
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) September 3, 2023
With that upgrade, the papaya outfit barely made it to the points as they still struggled to cope with straight-line speed. Nevertheless, things could have been worse if the McLaren higher-ups hadn’t taken this decision.
Norris puts all credit to McLaren’s hierarchy for saving the day
Norris joined Will Buxton of F1TV in the Italian Grand Prix post-race show. There, Buxton asked if the McLaren driver found any difference after their latest upgrades.
Answering this, the British driver said, “A 100%. If we had that same that we had in Spa, we wouldn’t have finished in the points today. Yeah, so we made some good steps.”
Rivals on track today, but respect between @LandoNorris and @Alex_Albon in the media pen afterwards. 🤝
Good battle out there guys.#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/UbNCI1C29l
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) September 3, 2023
Admittedly, the 23-year-old had a fascinating battle with Albon at Monza. Despite trying tremendously hard, the Briton was unable to overtake the Williams driver, and in the end, had to stay happy with P8.
Lando Norris and Alex Albon had a feisty battle for supremacy
The 2023 Italian Grand Prix saw Lando Norris and Alex Albon go wheel to wheel on multiple occasions. In the end, it was the Williams driver who ended the race on top.
Talking about this, Norris stated that, had it been any other car, he would have surely overtaken the driver. This showed how impressive the Grove-based team was with their speed in Monza.
Admittedly, Williams has been waiting to race at Monza for a long time due to their superiority in terms of straight-line speed and they delivered. However, this might be the last great performance from the British team this season. This is because James Vowles, the team principal earlier confirmed that they will make no more upgrades in 2023 to focus on their 2024 car.
