Lando Norris’s “cheeky” tow in Spanish GP qualifying explained

McLaren never intended for Oscar Piastri to provide Lando Norris with a tow during qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, it has been clarified clarified.

Norris followed Formula 1 teammate Piastri out of the pits and remained behind him on his first warm-up lap in the final segment of qualifying.

Piastri’s run plan was slightly different and he almost came to an abrupt halt after completing his flying lap, but Norris still got a brief slipstream exiting the final corner and onto the long start/finish straight as he started his own timed lap.

Piastri was made aware of Norris being directly behind him via team radio, describing the moment as “cheeky” in a light-hearted exchange with his engineer.

Norris went on to post a lap just 0.017s quicker than the championship leader on his first run, prompting speculation that the tow accounted for the thin margins between them.

Ultimately, both drivers found more time after bolting on a fresh set of tyres, with Piastri edging out the Briton by two tenths of a second to take pole position.

Speaking afterwards, Piastri revealed that there was no pre-agreed arrangement to assist Norris, saying it was merely a “coincidence” that the two McLaren drivers were running so close to each other in Q3.

“I went out very early for the first run of Q3 and it was just a coincidence that Lando ended up behind me opening the lap,” he said.

“Of course, when you cross the line to start your lap, it’s maybe not the nicest feeling, but we’ll discuss it. There was nothing untoward going on. Unless Lando’s going to spill his master plan that him and [race engineer] Will [Joseph] had! But I think it was just a coincidence.”

Norris joked that “we planned it the whole weekend”, before explaining: “No, I didn’t know Oscar was going out first, to be honest.

“I tried to get a slipstream from someone. I think I was unlucky that it was Oscar. It was just a coincidence. I was tenth or something in the queue. I don’t know who I’m going to get a slipstream from because you’re waiting two minutes in the pit lane. So yeah, just coincidence.”

Pressed if the tow translated into an improved first lap in Q3, Norris replied: “[It is] Hard to say. It was short-lived, but rightly so. So no, don’t think so.”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella also believes Norris didn't gain any real advantage by following Piastri at the start of his lap.

Asked to explain what Piastri meant by his "cheeky" remark, Stella replied: "I have to clarify with Oscar that we haven't reviewed specifically this case, but he was referring to the fact that because of the timing of leaving the garage, Lando found himself opening the lap behind Oscar, who was finishing the lap and so he could benefit a little from the tow that Oscar might have offered. 

"But obviously Oscar, because they are competing in Q3 for a position on the grid, immediately moved away. So actually from a performance point of view there wasn't much advantage at all."