Norris Reflects on Missed Podium Chance at Belgian GP

Lando Norris has had some time to digest what went wrong for McLaren at the Belgian Grand Prix. Confident in the car's pace, he was left lamenting a pit stop blunder that potentially cost him a podium finish. Despite starting the race with a handicap—a 10-place grid penalty for a new power electronics unit—Norris pulled off a stellar qualifying lap, enough to initially secure third on the grid. Unfortunately, the penalty meant he began the race from P13, yet he swiftly climbed the ranks during the opening laps.

However, McLaren's strategy banked on a late Safety Car appearance that never came. Norris was the last to pit, and a sluggish 7.8-second stop dashed any podium hopes. "Honestly, today should have been much better," Norris lamented after finishing seventh. "The pace was easily good enough for a potential podium. We just had a terrible pit stop. We were unlucky with the VSCs as well."

Reflecting on the race, Norris expressed regret over not pitting under the Virtual Safety Car. "It would have been a long stint on the medium, but I'd save more time boxing under the VSC than going five laps longer," he said. Despite the challenges, Norris found solace in the car's strong pace.

Looking ahead, Norris was cautious about drawing any conclusions on performance improvement, especially given both he and teammate Oscar Piastri finished behind the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull. "It’s a different track [in Hungary], so we definitely shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves," he added. "We’re still miles off comparing to the Mercedes—still half a second off yesterday in Qualifying. We’ve not changed anything on the car either, so we’ve not brought upgrades. Next weekend is the first time we’ll bring hopefully a good upgrade to the car. We’ll see if that works properly."

Piastri echoed Norris's sentiments on what might have been. An early clash with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc left his car compromised, making him an easy target for Lewis Hamilton later in the race. "It was certainly not a straightforward race," Piastri admitted. "I felt like our pace was really good—especially at the beginning of the stints it looked strong. Obviously, after the damage with Leclerc, that made things definitely more difficult."

As McLaren gears up for the next round in Hungary, both drivers are hopeful that upcoming upgrades will help close the gap to their rivals. "We feel like we’re just that one step behind," Piastri noted. "Hopefully, the upgrades we can bring will help us with that."