LANDO NORRIS ISSUES BLUNT VERDICT ON OSCAR PIASTRI'S HUNGARY GP WIN AS FANS FUME THE BRITISH ACE 'SHOULD HAVE WON' AFTER BEING ORDERED BY MCLAREN TO CONCEDE POSITION

Lando Norris finished second at the Hungary GP after giving up his lead position
The McLaren star was ordered by his garage to let team-mate Oscar Piastri win
Norris initially refused the order before reluctantly agreeing to move over

Lando Norris appeared frustrated in the aftermath of the Hungarian Grand Prix despite the McLaren star finishing second overall and picking up valuable world championship points on Max Verstappen.

A highly eventful race in Budapest saw Verstappen fly through the air after crashing into Lewis Hamilton, George Russell produced a strong fightback to finish in the top 10 after starting P17 and most notably Norris concede the lead to his team-mate Oscar Piastri.

The McLaren No.2 celebrated his first GP victory amid jubilant scenes on the podium, but it was a slightly awkward champagne spray alongside Norris who refused to delve into the subject of his defeat too much.

Amid heated scenes, Norris was repeatedly ordered to let 23-year-old Piastri pass but looked to initially refuse the order as he left the pits with a lead and immediately started to show he had the superior pace.

He engaged with McLaren's race engineers in a tense back-and-forth, appearing to decline the orders of race engineer Will Jeffrey, before eventually relinquishing his position with just three laps to go.

'You don't need to say anything,' vented Norris to the pitwall as he did so and was blunt when asked to elaborate on the exchange after the race.

'The team asked me to do it so I did it and that's it,' Norris told Sky Sports when questioned over why he let Piastri through.

However, the 24-year-old did also issue praise for his McLaren colleague and hailed the garage for securing a dominant one-two finish, adding: 'An amazing day for us as a team, I think that's the main thing.

'I'm so happy it's been a long journey to get to achieving this on merit and that's exactly what we did today and we did it in style as well.

'A good one by the team and of course to Oscar, he had a good start, he got me off the line and controlled the race well, it was coming at some point and he deserved it today,' he said.

However, Formula One fans weren't buying Norris' post-race comments and criticised McLaren for ordering to give a free pass for Piastri to claim victory.

Posting on X, one Norris supporter tweeted: 'Piastri is not half as good a driver as Norris is. He had fresher tires, and still couldn't do anything but fall further and further behind. Lando Norris won that!!!'

Another similarly commented: 'Lando Norris should have won if McLaren hadn't pressured him to let Piastri pass.'

Norris will have a chance to avenge his runners-up finish at the Belgian GP next weekend.

2024-07-21T17:17:10Z dg43tfdfdgfd