Lando Norris: “I Regret Not Pitting a Lap Earlier”
Q: Lando, in both Spa races, the winner started from second. You took pole position on Saturday but couldn’t convert it into a win on Sunday. What happened?
Lando Norris: I didn’t take Turn 1 particularly well, which allowed Oscar to get by quite easily. He had a good launch, and with the slipstream, he probably would’ve passed me anyway—even if I’d been slightly better through the first corner.
Of course, I’m a bit disappointed not to have won. But it’s not the end of the world. On a circuit like this, starting from pole isn’t always the best place to be. I just need to analyze what I could’ve done better on the opening lap.
Q: There was some radio chatter about a possible battery issue. Could that have affected your start?
Lando Norris: It’s hard to say right now. I’ll need to discuss it with the team to understand exactly what happened.
Q: You were the only driver to switch from intermediates to the hard compound, while everyone else opted for mediums. Was that a strategic risk?
Lando Norris: I wouldn’t call it a risk, really. The engineer asked what tyres I wanted, and I said “Hard.” That was it. I didn’t even know Oscar had gone for the mediums. It didn’t influence my decision.
I knew the hard compound would last longer, but they’re harder to bring up to temperature, and the first few laps after a pit stop can be tough. And that’s exactly what happened.
Toward the end of the race, I had the advantage in grip and pace, but I lost around eight or nine seconds simply by pitting a lap later than Oscar. To close that kind of gap was a solid effort. I gave it everything, but ultimately came up just short.
Q: You stopped one lap after Oscar. Did you consider pitting at the same time and waiting behind him?
Lando Norris: That’s a question for the team. In a double-stack pit stop, there’s always the risk of losing a lot of time. But I think once we analyze everything, we’ll all agree that I stayed out too long on the intermediates. Only Lewis pitted a lap early, then Oscar went in, and only after that did I follow. In hindsight, the best choice would’ve been to box a lap earlier.
