Lando Norris makes ‘not proud’ Oscar Piastri admission after McLaren team orders

Lando Norris has admitted he was “not proud” to have to rely on McLaren team orders to win the Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race, conceding that team-mate Oscar Piastri “deserved” to take victory.

Norris claimed the first sprint race victory of his Formula 1 career at Interlagos on Saturday, reducing Max Verstappen’s championship lead to 45 points ahead of Sunday’s main race in Sao Paulo.

Lando Norris: Oscar Piastri ‘deserved to win’ Brazil GP sprint race

The British driver’s triumph came after team-mate and sprint polesitter Piastri obeyed McLaren’s request to swap positions in the closing laps to maximise Norris’s point-scoring chances in his title battle with Verstappen.

Speaking after the mini race, Norris thanked both Piastri and McLaren for their role in his win – and conceded that he did not deserve to finish first at Interlagos.

Asked if he felt at risk from Verstappen and Charles Leclerc behind as he waited for Piastri to swap places, Norris told Sky F1: £Of course, I was under pressure. They were within the DRS almost every lap.

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“Max was a lot quicker at the end of the race, so my confidence was not high towards the middle and end part of the race. But that’s life.

“Oscar drove well and he deserved to win today. I’m not proud of winning a sprint race – or any race – like this, so I thank Oscar and the team.

“But that’s our objective. It’s what we have to work to towards as a team. We get the points in the Constructors’ [Championship] and I get the points in the Drivers’ and that’s our target.

“You can never plan exactly what lap, what time [to swap positions]. It’s impossible to plan these things to perfection.

“We talk about different times and where we can manage things to do and the main thing we want to do is not put anyone at risk, myself or Oscar.

“And we want to help each other out, so we executed it in the end exactly how we wanted to.”

Asked if he was surprised by the pace of Verstappen, who put pressure on the McLaren pair in the closing laps after overtaking Leclerc for third, Norris added: “I think so.

“I felt very quick the whole race, so I felt like once I was released I could easily go.

“But at the same time, in the last couple laps I knew Oscar would need the DRS and I had to back off a little bit to help him out.

“So he helped me, I helped him.

“I know I was the one which benefited at the end of the day, but this is the position we’re in for a championship now.”

Having locked out the front row of the grid for the sprint race, McLaren are overwhelming favourites to repeat the feat in Saturday’s main qualifying session.

However, Norris is wary that the changeable conditions in Sao Paulo could be to the team’ disadvantage, adding: “We’re very quick in the dry at the minute so I’d prefer it to stay dry.”

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