McLaren did not have the necessary pace to compete with Mercedes at the Italian Grand Prix, but Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri livened up the end of the race with a particularly intense battle.
Read more Nico Hülkenberg lashes out at Lawson after their clash in Monza: «It’s his trademark»
Despite Norris going off into the grass at high speed, both drivers felt after the finish that their duel was tough but perfectly fair.
Lando Norris hoped to secure a third consecutive victory after his wins in Hungary and the Netherlands, but his weekend was compromised by an eighth place on the grid.
Oscar Piastri started only two positions ahead of him, sixth, after receiving a three-place penalty for impeding Liam Lawson during qualifying.
Norris sent into the grass at high speed
While Mercedes took control of the race, the two McLarens gradually climbed up the standings. Piastri was notably engaged in a long battle with Lewis Hamilton before seeing his own teammate catch up to him in the final laps.
The duel intensified significantly when Norris tried to find an opening approaching the second chicane. As Piastri moved over to defend his position, Norris found part of his car in the grass at very high speed. The reigning world champion immediately expressed his displeasure on the radio.
Once out of the car, his judgment was much more measured: “No, it was fair”, Norris admitted.
The Brit explains that the perception from the cockpit can make this type of situation seem much more worrying than it actually is: “I still have to review the footage, but I think it’s simply a matter of perception when you’re in the car. When someone leaves a bit of space then moves, at 320 km/h, you get that impression. That’s all.”
“I think what he did was fair, the world champion believes. It’s just that, in the moment, when you have half the car in the grass, you realize how quickly things can go very wrong. That was the hot reaction. But on that side, everything was fine and it was a good battle. ”
Norris finally found the opening on the last lap, overtaking Piastri at the Ascari chicane to take fourth place.
Piastri: “We fought well”
Piastri did not blame his teammate any more for his aggressiveness. The Australian mainly emphasized the difficulty of managing a duel between two cars with extremely close performance levels.
Energy management was especially a key element to prepare an attack or defend a position: “It was a tough battle, that’s for sure. We both seemed quite close, especially in the last laps. So it was really complicated to know when to use the battery and when not to use it.”
Despite losing fourth place in the final kilometers, Piastri was satisfied with the duel: “I think we witnessed a great battle. From my point of view, it was a good, exciting race, that’s for sure. And in the end, I think it was the best result we could get as a team, so I’m quite happy.”
McLaren needed the slipstream
The race also highlighted McLaren’s difficulties on the straights against Mercedes, despite using the same power unit. When Norris and Piastri could benefit from the slipstream of Mercedes or the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, they were able to stay in the fight. Once isolated, the McLarens lost more ground.
“We needed someone to pull us and, from there, we could fight because we were more evenly matched, Norris explains. On a day like this, it was almost preferable not to stay too long in front, because usually you ended up falling back. But when you were behind, you always felt you could make progress. ”
This patience finally paid off for Norris in the last two laps: “I think fourth place was the maximum we could get. And finishing fourth and fifth as a team is also a good result.”
Read more Red Bull sets a clear goal after Verstappen’s feat at Monza