Lando Norris handed McLaren warning as controversial penalty proves crucial
Lando Norris has been warned by his McLaren team principal that team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri will turn his British Grand Prix pain into motivation for his championship challenge. The Brit is only eight points shy of Piastri halfway through the season, following his first triumph at a drenched Silverstone on home soil.
Norris put in a flawless performance to capitalise on Piastri's 10-second penalty for "erratic braking" behind the safety car. But the Aussie was unhappy with the stewards' decision, sarcastically stating after the race: "Apparently you can't brake behind the safety car anymore."
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella anticipates a strong comeback from Piastri at the Belgian Grand Prix at the end of July. "I have to say that the penalty was very harsh," said the Italian, who was celebrating the team's first win at their home grand prix in seventeen years.
"There are a few things to review, but in itself, now the penalty has been decided and has been served, we move on. We will see if there's anything to learn on our side and I'm sure Oscar will use this motivation for being even more determined for the races to come and try and win as many races as possible."
A collision with Piastri in Canada three weeks ago left Norris' championship aspirations looking bleak. But back-to-back victories in Austria and at Silverstone have turned the tables – a very handy time for the Brit to win two races in a row for the first time in his Formula 1 career.
Norris has notched up his fourth win of the season, trailing Piastri by just one victory. Defending champion Max Verstappen, who spun shortly after Piastri had braked hard in front of him behind the safety car before recovering to finish fifth, sits third in the standings and 69 points behind.
At Silverstone, Norris' victory lap was momentarily disrupted when a photographer tripped, causing him to sustain a minor nose injury. Nonetheless, he later joined Piastri and McLaren CEO Zak Brown on the Silverstone fan stage, basking in the cheers of a record-breaking 168,000-strong British crowd.
"It's two wins in a row, but they've not come easy by any means," Norris admitted. "We've had good fights, but they're pretty strenuous, exhausting weekends because you're fighting for hundredths and thousandths of a second and you're fighting for perfection in every session.
"I'm also going up against some pretty good drivers. So, it takes a lot out of you, especially when you have a race like Sunday." He will now have two weekends off to recover, though, before the trip to Belgium later this month.
That Spa-Francorchamps race will be followed by the Hungarian Grand Prix, the final race before the summer break. A gruelling run-in of 10 races in 15 weeks then begins with the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August.
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