Lando Norris from McLaren has acknowledged that he mishandled the team orders controversy during the recent Hungarian Grand Prix, expressing regret and stating that he would approach the situation differently if it happened again.
In Budapest, Norris disregarded instructions to let teammate Oscar Piastri take the lead after he had temporarily secured the position due to a team strategy that allowed him to pit first. Despite being urged to yield the spot for 17 laps, he only allowed Piastri to pass with three laps remaining, enabling Piastri to clinch his first F1 victory.
Ahead of this weekend’s Belgian GP, the 24-year-old admitted that he did not manage the situation appropriately.
“I regret how my actions overshadowed Oscar’s first F1 win,” he said. “Could both the team and I have handled it differently? Definitely,” he continued. “Perhaps if we had, we wouldn’t be discussing this now.”
This incident overshadowed what was an otherwise remarkable weekend for McLaren, who secured the front row in qualifying and achieved their first one-two finish since 2021. The team supported their decision to pit Norris first, and he acknowledged that his actions detracted from the team’s impressive progress in challenging Red Bull this season.
“We achieved a one-two, yet that hardly made headlines after the race. It’s what I felt worst about,” he reflected.
Norris is working to close the gap on championship leader Max Verstappen, currently trailing by 76 points, and recognized that had he thought more clearly at the time, he would have been wiser to let Piastri pass and then attempted to re-overtake him on the track.
“I could have simply let him through and then still raced him,” he mentioned. “It seems so straightforward now, but it didn’t cross my mind then.”
Verstappen is expected to receive a 10-place grid penalty for this weekend’s race due to his team installing a new engine, marking his fifth of the season—one more than allowed under the regulations.
The reigning world champion was aware that a penalty would likely be necessary since a new power unit failed during practice at the Canadian GP, which was his fourth failure this season. Red Bull plans to take the penalty at Spa to minimize the impact on Verstappen’s championship hopes, considering the many opportunities available to regain positions during the race.
In 2022, he climbed from 14th to win, and last year from sixth to victory as well. However, with both McLaren and Mercedes showing greater competitiveness this season, a similar recovery may not be feasible.
Haas announced on Thursday that Esteban Ocon will be joining the team next season, driving alongside Oliver Bearman from Britain. The 27-year-old, who has one F1 win at the 2021 Hungarian GP, is currently with Alpine and will be taking over Kevin Magnussen’s seat in 2025.
