Lando Norris’ poor start in the Hungarian Grand Prix, which he blamed for his defeat in the race, was affected by a “small glitch”, his team have confirmed.
The McLaren driver lost his lead from pole position to team mate Oscar Piastri, who went on to win. Max Verstappen also used the opportunity to overtake Norris, though he went off the track in doing so and handed the position back when advised to by his team three laps later.McLaren confirmed after the race Norris “experienced a small glitch finding second gear during his acceleration from pole.”
Norris finished second behind Piastri after letting his team mate through with two laps to go in response to repeated instructions from the pit wall. He took the lead after gaining the benefit of an earlier pit stop than Piastri when the pair came in for the second time.
After the race Norris blamed his slow start, rather than his team’s tactics, for his defeat. “I didn’t lose the win there, I lost the win off the line,” he said. “I had – not even a terrible start- just a bad start. Something happened on my second shift and I lost all my momentum. Oscar got to the inside and that was it.”
Norris has failed to keep his lead on all five occasions he has started a Formula 1 race from pole position. These include his first pole position at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix and this year’s race in Spain, where he blamed his subsequent defeat on a poor start. He also lost the lead from pole in this year’s sprint race at Shanghai and last year’s at Interlagos.
Piastri said getting ahead of Norris at the start was key to his victory as it allowed him to spend much of the race in free air. “Track position made a very big difference today and I think that’s why having the start I did was so critical,” he said. “Ultimately I didn’t quite have the pace that I wanted in the last stint and I still need to go and assess why that was the case.”
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2024 Hungarian Grand Prix
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- McLaren team orders “a new situation we’re inexperienced at handling” – Piastri
- Verstappen dismisses critics of “vocal” radio messages and late-night simracing
- Norris’ former McLaren team mates say he was right to give up win
- Mercedes surprised Hamilton’s car was “completely unscathed” in Verstappen clash
notagrumpyfan
24th July 2024, 9:00
Strategically McLaren had a much bigger ‘glitch’ at the start. They should have told Norris and Piastri to defend together against 3rd place Verstappen (rather than Norris desperately trying to impede Piastri and leaving the door open for the rest).
Had they defended the width of the track into T1, then they most probably had kept the 1-2, and could open up the papaya internal fight afterwards (until the final stop).
BasCB (@bascb)
24th July 2024, 10:07
Yeah, I agree they should have mainly worked together to keep the second row – Max and Lewis behind them.
Norris seemed mainly focussed on trying to stop Piastri from the line and Piastri chose a wider line than he could have in that first corner to make sure he kept Norris behind, but that helped Norris losing momentum and giving room for Verstappen and Hamilton.
I do think Piastri is fully aware that he would have a hard job challenging Norris during the race after that first stop though, so he might have felt it was his only good chance (also knowing they would only be allowed to fight on track up to a certain point, which turned out to be until the 2nd pitstop)
Avro Anson (@avroanson)
24th July 2024, 9:03
Right off the line, Norris was intent on blocking Piastri, squeezing him onto the grass. In the process he left the door open for Verstappen and it’s only by good luck (or bad, depending on your POV) that VER didn’t sweep through into the lead.
Stephen Taylor
24th July 2024, 10:24
Verstappen was never double overtake both McLarens into T1 it was daft to try it
roadrunner (@roadrunner)
24th July 2024, 13:25
Watch a replay of the starts from 2015 and 2008. It has happened before when the two drivers on the inside were battling
Homie
24th July 2024, 10:34
Why did we need to confirm this now McLaren? Do you still have a sulky driver on your hands?
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
24th July 2024, 12:50
Not buying it as NOR has never led after lap 1 from pole. This glitch excuse is going to get old real quick if he keeps winning pole. Can teams swap drivers starting positions?
The Dolphins
24th July 2024, 16:16
Indirectly, yes. Take the 2012 USGP example: Ferrari broke the FIA seal on Massa’s car resulting in a 5-place grid drop (to 11th) which in turn elevated Alonso one place (to 7th) with the real benefit being that it put Alonso on the cleaner side of the track for the start.
SteveP
24th July 2024, 19:15
I didn’t know that, I just recalled that he seemed to be generally bad off the start line, calling it a “glitch” is something you can get away with once, maybe twice, but his record suggests the “glitch” is sitting in the seat.
An Sionnach
24th July 2024, 19:48
Yes
Red Andy (@red-andy)
24th July 2024, 18:08
That’s a very unkind way to describe Lando.
Mayrton
25th July 2024, 12:49
So they should have given the win to Lando because he was disadvantaged by the teams small glitch there. Makes the whole story even more worse from team management position. So they do want to compensate for alternate pit stops, but this glitch was overlooked.