Lando Norris blames McLaren strategy in bold Belgian GP claim

Lando Norris said he does not believe McLaren could have made his race “any more difficult” after it opted to go extremely long on his first set of tyres.

Norris was forced to make his hard tyres last 30 laps in a strategy that left him seventh after the 44-lap Belgian Grand Prix.

Lando Norris reacts to Belgian GP

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Norris’ 10-place grid penalty for a fourth Control Electronics Unit meant he was always facing an uphill challenge for the podium but he was not helped by his team’s decision to keep him on the same set of rubber, even when a virtual safety car appeared to present an opportunity for a cheap stop.

With the VSC being called as marshals removed debris from the track, both Ferraris pitted as did Norris’ McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri. But the Woking team opted against double-stacking its drivers, telling Norris to stay out and take the on-track lead.

It left him as a sitting duck as Leclerc, Kimi Antonelli, Max Verstappen and Piastri made it past.

When Norris did eventually stop on lap 31, there was a problem with his rear left tyre which left him stationary for 7.8 seconds, compounding his misery.

After, Norris suggested he had the pace to fight for the win but said the race could not have been made more difficult.

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“I think the pace was incredible, to be honest,” he told media, including PlanetF1.com. “Honestly, I think the pace was good enough for easily a podium today. Of course, made tougher by the fact I started P13.

“But the VSCs were also just badly timed for us. They perfectly benefited the hard runners and were a bit too early for me. But that’s something we’ll review. See if we could have boxed on the VSC.

“I lost 10 seconds because of that, and I lost another five or six or something in the pit stop. So it’s 16 seconds that we just had added to my race time, which just makes my life incredibly tough and the fact I started P13.

“I don’t think we could have made my race or could have made our race any more difficult today.

“I think the pace was good enough for a podium or even to win. So it’s a shame that we couldn’t at least try and achieve it today.”

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