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Lando Norris has admitted his disappointment over McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri’s lost podium finish in the British Grand Prix, which would’ve been the rookie’s first in Formula 1.
A superb weekend for the pair of upgraded McLaren MCL60s culminated in a second-place finish for Norris, and Piastri had looked likely to join him on the podium before safety car timing stymied him.
Piastri had pitted just before Kevin Magnussen left an on-fire Haas parked up at the side of the track, and the intervention of the safety car meant Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton suffered less of a time loss from his pitstop – coming out just ahead of Piastri.
The 22-year-old ultimately finished a second behind Hamilton after a 14-lap post-safety car shootout.
“I feel for him, to be honest. He should be sitting here,” said Norris during the post-race press conference that features the podium finishers. “If things went to plan and there wasn’t the safety car.
“So it’s a bit of a shame, he deserved his first podium in Formula 1. I think it would’ve been amazing for us as team McLaren, and celebrating our 60th anniversary, Google Chrome livery, all of these things, to share it [the podium] I think would’ve been pretty special.
“And he deserved it. He’s been on top form all weekend. Yeah, he’s been pushing me an insane amount, which is a good thing, it’s raised the level of what we do as a team.”
Norris went on to say that Silverstone wasn’t some sort of Piastri breakthrough, yet rather a continuation of his impressive start to life in F1 that was specifically highlighted by the impact of the MCL60’s upgrades.
“All year he’s been good – it’s not like he’s just turned up here and been strong,” said Norris. “He’s been good since day one in the car.”
“Makes my life tough sometimes,” added Norris, chuckling. “I don’t always like it – but it’s a good thing, at the end of the day it makes me a better driver, too.
“I feel for him and the team. We did everything we should’ve done to be P2 and P3. So it’s a shame he’s not sat here too.
“But yeah, he’ll have his chances, he’s driving very well, he’s doing a very good job, and if we can improve the car a little bit more we can be here a lot more often, and I’m sure he’s going to have his fair few times of being here, too.”
Piastri, whose fourth-place finish still more than tripled his 2023 points tally, acknowledged his frustration with the safety car timing – but was keen to focus on how good it had been to be in that position in the first place.
“It hurts to be so close to a podium, we were looking so good, we executed everything we could, we were pulling away from the cars behind, all to be one second too far behind pretty much when the safety car came out,” he said.
“It hurts a little bit, but I’m so happy that I’m disappointed with P4, as opposed to what it’s been earlier in the season.”
