Lando Norris denies battery issue cost him F1 Belgian GP, points to the real reason

Lando Norris denied claims that a battery issue cost him the race lead to McLaren F1 teammate Oscar Piastri at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Once the race got underway at Spa-Francorchamps after a lengthy delay, Norris immediately lost the lead.

Norris had a moment on the exit of Turn 1 before being passed by Piastri on the run down to Les Combes.

The British driver ultimately finished second, which means Piastri’s F1 championship lead has been increased to 16 points.

Sky Sports asked Norris after the race whether a battery issue was the reason he was slow on the first lap of racing after the Safety Car.

“No,” he replied.

Norris clarified that the extreme slipstream effect left him vulnerable. 

“Yes, the slipstream. We saw it on Saturday,” Norris explained.

“Especially when it’s wet, and when you’re the first car, you have to push through the first bit of water.

“Which means the following effect in the rain is even more than normal. I didn’t get the best Turn 1 so I need to look at things. I had two snaps on the exit.

“Maybe that could have got me out of trouble. But I think it would have only given Oscar a bigger slipstream to pass me.

“As we saw on Saturday, it’s tough to lead at the beginning.

“I’m not saying that I did the best job. But it seems like, this weekend, there was a headwind down that straight and it was pretty much impossible to keep ahead.

“I have nothing to complain about. It was a good race, I gave it a good shot, I was pushing hard, but it’s not enough.”

Norris shrugs off mistakes

It wasn’t an error-free race from Lando Norris.

He ran wide twice at the first corner when chasing down Piastri.

Norris also ran off the track at Pouhon, the fast left-hander in the middle sector.

“I had a couple of lock-ups at Turn 1. I went off. I had a big bump, I lost one second there,” Norris added.

“It seems Oscar made mistakes, as well. The conditions were tricky. I’m sure everyone made mistakes like that.

“I was trying to gain time, I had to push, I couldn’t just chill.

“When you’re playing on the edge like that, you make mistakes. That’s racing, that’s life.

“I am not unhappy. There wasn’t much more I could do today. I felt like I was on top of things. Lap 1 let me down.”