‘Nothing to do with that’ – Lando Norris claps back at theories over Qatar strategy

Lando Norris has rejected suggestions that McLaren’s controversial strategy call in Qatar was designed to maintain fairness between him and teammate Oscar Piastri.

McLaren threw away the victory in Qatar by not stopping either driver under the early Safety Car. 

Norris and Piastri didn’t pit at the end of Lap 7, while nearly the entire field did.

Due to the enforced tyre stint lengths in play for this weekend, this left both drivers with a mountain to climb if they were to beat Max Verstappen to the win. 

Norris ultimately finished fourth, leaving him just 12 points ahead of Verstappen with one round to go.

Giving his view on McLaren’s strategy call in Qatar, Norris told Sky Sports: “It’s tough. We just had to have faith in the team making the right decision. It’s always a gamble.

“We were the ones who took a gamble in a way. Now it’s the wrong decision. We shouldn’t have done it.

“Oscar lost a win and I lost P2. We didn’t do a good job today but we’ve done plenty of good jobs in all the races.

“We’ve won the constructors’ six races ago because of that. Not our finest day but that’s life.”

Dismisses ‘fairness’ theory

One theory suggested McLaren didn’t pit either driver to keep things fair. 

Had they stopped both cars under the Safety Car, Norris would have had to queue behind Piastri, potentially losing track position. 

Conversely, pitting only one car could be seen as favouring one driver, particularly with the title race so close.

Norris dismissed any suggestion that McLaren’s strategy call was linked to ‘papaya rules’.

“No, nothing to do with that. Everyone keeps thinking that but it’s nothing to do with that,” he explained.

Red Bull “did a better job”

Norris’ lead is now just 12 points over Verstappen heading into Abu Dhabi next weekend. 

The British driver knows that a third-place finish will secure the title, even if Verstappen wins.

“I think they were as quick as today as they were yesterday. It’s just that they did a better job as a team and made the right call,” Norris added.

“Just review things – see what we could have done better. I think we already know why we didn’t make the right decision. We can’t get them all right. Just do the normal. Do the job. I do my job and if we do that we will be fine.”