McLaren’s Lando Norris said he “paid the price” for a “cautious” opening lap of the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix which saw him relinquish a brief lead to team-mate Oscar Piastri.
Norris launched well at lights out from pole, leading through Turns 1, 2 and 3 ahead of Piastri, but things unravelled for the Briton from there on in.
Approaching the Variante Della Roggia chicane, Piastri out-braked Norris, moving around the outside to take the lead.
With Norris compromised on exit, he dropped to third, where he’d finish, behind eventually winner Charles Leclerc.
Asked post-race what he would have done differently on the opening lap, Norris replied: “Just brake a bit later. Simple as that.
“But sometimes it’s easier said than done. Oscar obviously braked on the limit and gave me space. That was just about enough.
“I did my best to avoid anything else happening at the time. But at the same time if I brake two meters later, you don’t know and you can’t predict.
“But two metres later it could easily have been a crash.
“So it’s a tough one. Easiest thing is just to brake way later and force him off and kind of treat it like no one else. But yeah, I don’t know.
“I obviously took it easy. I saw there was a massive gap behind. So maybe I was just a bit too much on the cautious side and paid the price.”
Starting from pole and finishing third wasn’t the way Norris wanted his Italian GP to go and it was written across his face during the post-race press conference.
Dejected, but putting on a brave face, Norris reflected on what could have been.
“[It was] pretty disappointing,” he said.
“Yeah, which is obvious from the outside even.
“So, I mean, Charles drove a great race, honestly. Hard to know if we could have done what he did today [one-stop], but they deserved it. And, yeah, both Oscar and Charles drove a good race.
“So, yeah, disappointing starting from pole and only third, especially when I think the pace is very strong. So, a shame, but that’s the way it is.”
With Max Verstappen finishing sixth and Norris picking up the fastest lap, the McLaren driver has closed the gap in the Drivers’ standings to 62 points with eight rounds remaining.
However, stricter team orders perhaps could have resulted in Norris cutting more into the championship leader’s margin, but the McLaren driver doesn’t want to “beg” for assistance.
Asked whether he needs Piastri’s “help” to win the title, Norris said “he helps me. But I’m not here just to beg for someone to let me pass. That’s not why I’m here. I’m here to race.
“[Piastri] drove a better race than me, so I finished third and that’s where I deserve to finish.”
