Lando Norris confirms McLaren discussion to fix Monza mishap

Lando Norris has revealed that McLaren held an internal discussion following qualifying at the Italian Grand Prix, where poor execution left the F1 drivers' champion starting from eighth on the grid at Monza.

The main issue centred on the final runs in Q3, where Norris gave Oscar Piastri a slipstream on the first push lap but was denied the reciprocal tow on the second after the Australian locked up and ran wide at the first chicane at the start of that lap, robbing his team-mate of the chance to benefit from a clean slipstream in return.

As constructors' champions, McLaren is positioned at the very start of the pit lane, meaning the team is forced to leave first when the clock is ticking.

At Monza, where a tow on the long straights is worth significant lap time, nobody wanted to be the first car on track.

Team principal Andrea Stella spoke about the need for sharper execution in the aftermath, and Norris was asked about those comments ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix at the all-new Madring, where the 550-metre pit lane presents a similar challenge.

"I'd rather have that problem and win a championship than not; it's a good price to pay, but I believe we could have done a better job last weekend by not going out first," the 13-time grand prix winner told media, including RacingNews365.

Risk and reward

Norris acknowledged the complexity of the situation, stressing that there is no simple fix when every team on the grid is jockeying for track position.

"The thing is, it's risk-reward in many ways, so it's not like you can just put a plan in place and this is what you're going to do and it's going to work; that's just not how it works, sadly," he said.

"It was clear no one wanted to go first. Everyone wanted to have a slipstream. We're at the end of the pit lane. [So] you have to go first, and there's a certain time that you have to go with; otherwise, you risk not getting a lap.

"And, of course, maybe you play with a finer margin, but there's been plenty of circumstances over the last few years where people have not got laps, and we never want to be in that position."

While Piastri qualified third before a grid penalty dropped him to sixth, Norris was left stranded in ninth [eighth after grid drops], a result that did not reflect McLaren's underlying pace.

The Briton made clear that the lack of priority on the opening Q3 lap compounded the problem when his second attempt fell apart.

"So, we've spoken about it," he added. "There are things I think we could have done better. And we need to do better because of the fact that I had no priority on the first lap in Q3, which meant I had to give Oscar a slipstream, and he had a perfect slipstream, to me having none on my second.

"Like, I had no opportunity to put in a good lap, and therefore no opportunity to start highly in the race, and that's not the position I want to be in. So we have to do something more.

"It's a difficult position to be in, so there's no clear answer for it. But it was obviously probably the main discussion from last weekend."