Norris reveals reason for shunning McLaren orders

Lando Norris has revealed why he gave up victory in the Qatar sprint to Oscar Piastri just metres from the finish line, ignoring McLaren orders in the process.

With the exception of the last 100 metres, Norris led the entire sprint from pole position at the Lusail International Circuit. 

The Briton had the pace to cruise into the distance, but chose to keep Piastri within one-second of him. This ensured Piastri had DRS, enabling him to keep George Russell at bay. 

Bizarrely, Norris let Piastri past for the victory just metres from the finish line, which did not change that McLaren scored maximum points in the sprint.

When asked if he had pace in hand, Norris said: "A little bit, it's always difficult to know. We scored a one-two, that's what we were aiming for today, we've got maximum points, so we're happy. 

"We're happy as a team, we've executed things perfectly, and I think the pace was good. 

"I probably could have pushed a little bit more than what I was doing, but we wanted to keep the others behind, so I tried to help out and not let George get too close. So we did our job, and that's the main thing."

Position swap

Norris allowing Piastri past so close to the finish line caught everybody off-guard; however, it is something he planned to do in Brazil. 

In Norris' eyes, allowing Piastri past was payback for the Australian drive helping him in São Paulo. 

McLaren was aware of the 25-year-old's intentions to let Piastri past ahead of the race, but actually instructed Norris not to perform the late position change.

Norris shunned the team orders, but believes he did what was right.

"It was a bit closer than what I was wanting, but I planned to do it since Brazil," revealed Norris. 

"It was what I thought was best, probably a little bit sketchy. The team told me not to do it, but I thought I could get away with it, and we did. 

"So honestly, I don't mind. I'm not here to win sprint races. I'm here to win races and a championship, but that's not gone to plan. So I did the best that I could, and I look forward to tomorrow."