Lando Norris has revealed more about the battery setting issue that contributed to him missing out on victory in the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix.
The British driver also admitted that both he and McLaren left performance on the table in a frustrating finish at Spa-Francorchamps.
Norris was beaten by team-mate Oscar Piastri in a delayed, rain-hit Grand Prix after the Australian made a decisive move down the Kemmel Straight on the restart following the Safety Car’s withdrawal on Lap 5.
Piastri controlled the race from there, managing the crossover phase and fending off a late push from Norris to seal victory.
Norris, meanwhile, ran into a series of issues – including not being able to double stack, a slow pit stop, multiple lock-ups, and a wide moment at Pouhon.
But the most costly moment came during the crucial overtake, where Norris immediately questioned the lack of battery deployment available to him.
While McLaren boss Andrea Stella downplayed the impact of the battery setting on the result, Norris explained how that, combined with other small setbacks, was enough to deny him.
“I didn’t have the best run [at the restart], but at the same time, then we had some, not problems, some incorrect settings with the battery, which meant he had a slight advantage of battery compared to me, which certainly didn’t help,” Norris told media including Motorsport Week.
“But I also didn’t do the best two corners, whether that would have made a difference or not, hard to say.
“With the issue, he probably would have passed me no matter what. So yeah, a tougher one to take from that perspective.”
Norris highlights key areas for reflection at McLaren
Norris also pointed to the strategy and pitstop execution as areas where both he and McLaren could have done better in last weekend’s race.
He continued: “But otherwise, from the strategy and pitstops, yeah, tough to say. I don’t think a double stack would have been any better. I just had a slow pitstop.
“It was more of a slow pit stop. And it was one of my lock-ups in Turn 1, which cost me like over a second and a bit. You put those two things together, it’s like four seconds of race time.
“So there’s things I could have done better, and then we as a team could have done better. And that’s what we’re going to work on.”
He added that while the defeat was frustrating, it wasn’t one that left him with regrets – only fine margins that didn’t fall in his favour.
“There’s also things he probably could have done better too,” he said.
“So, even if I had a mega last corner or mega Turn 1, [there was] still [a] pretty good chance he would have passed me anyway.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to accept that. As much as I would like to win them all, you can’t. So yeah, a tougher one to take because I don’t feel like it’s because I did a bad job.”
Looking at the bigger picture, Norris was also asked whether Max Verstappen remains a factor in this year’s title race – or if it’s now solely a McLaren fight between himself and Piastri.
“I mean, it’s never impossible,” he replied. “We proved that last year, but it’s quite a long way back.
“We have a team that’s a lot more stable and performing a lot better than Red Bull is.
“But Max is still quite easily one of the best drivers ever in Formula 1. So, as a driver, I wouldn’t rule him out.
“But we have a better car, we have a better team. So I have my confidence in them that we can stay ahead.”
READ MORE – Why McLaren feels battery ‘anomaly’ didn’t cost Lando Norris in F1 Belgian GP loss
One more story by an English press who yet again bemoan poor performances by English drivers rather than praising better performances by non English drivers. There is just too much biased coverage by the English media. FOX commentators Motorsport Weekly etc. if there was another less biased coverage both written and broadcast I’d be there. Remember there’s only 80 million English and over 1.1 billion non English viewers.