Before the race, it looked like Norris’ to lose. He had started on pole, on the racing line, and normally the drivers on the inside make slower starts at the Hungaroring because of the lack of grip off line.
But Norris’ start was not good, and Piastri got alongside him as they went three-wide into the first corner with Verstappen. Norris briefly dropped behind Verstappen – who was ordered to give the place back because he had gained it by going off the track.
Once back in second place, on a track where overtaking is difficult – partly because of the circuit’s twisty nature and partly because of the hot weather that means cars behind others overheat their tyres even more than normal – Norris was never going to pass a car from the same team with such similar pace.
“I boxed first and naturally you will always undercut. The team gave me this position and I gave it back, nothing more than that,” he said.
“Something we always talk about before every race is our trust in one another, our honesty we have as a group. I think that’s something that’s allowed us to catch others so quickly, to perform and outperform others so quickly to develop the car quicker.”
Despite Norris’ arguments with the pit wall, team principal Stella, who has masterminded McLaren’s revival over the past 18 months, said he had no doubts his driver would do what was asked.
“I know Lando enough,” Stella said. “Sometimes you have to communicate to all the sides that exist inside a race driver.
“But I know him well enough to know that inside Lando we have a race driver and a team player. These two elements came along perfectly today to generate what was the right thing to do for the team, for Oscar and Lando.
“I know for the media and watching on TV this becomes a story. But for us internally this becomes part of the way we go racing, and that’s why we invest so much in culture, values and mindset. We want to be able to manage the situation if we want to be in the championship with Lando, Oscar and McLaren.”
Stella is an intelligent and eloquent man, but also a tough one. A driver who did not accede to such a policy, he said, could find somewhere else to race.
“Interests of the team come first,” Stella said. “If you mess up on this matter, you cannot be part of the McLaren F1 team. That’s the principle.”
But he said he had no concerns Norris would eventually do what was right.
Asked why it had taken Norris so long, Stella replied: “Because he’s a race driver. Mention me a race driver who would have not done (the same thing). Actually you can mention to me many who would have not done it until lap 70, and I would be extremely concerned in that case if Lando had not demonstrated I am a race driver because that’s the ethos you need to fight hard with Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and more and Oscar himself.
“It is entertaining to talk about the controversial aspects, but it would be unfair not to talk about the resolution which happened according to our way of going racing.”
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