Norris reveals why he opted for the hard tyres at Belgian F1 race
Having finished second at Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, McLaren driver Lando Norris reflected on why he elected to use the hard slick tyres, confirming that it was his decision.
Championship leader Oscar Piastri endured disappointment when he got beaten by his team-mate Lando Norris in the standard qualifying session on Sunday.
However, the 24-year-old managed to make up for the defeat on the opening lap of the Belgian Grand Prix. Piastri got a better run than his team mate through the complex of Eau Rouge and Raidillon, allowing him to then make the move on the Kemmel straight.
As drivers switched from intermediates to slick tyres, Piastri enjoyed priority, pitting a lap earlier than Norris which allowed him to build up a margin of over eight seconds.
Although the Briton looked very competitive and comfortable in the closing stages of the 44-lap race on his hard Pirelli tyres, Piastri did not allow to slip the victory through his fingers.
Asked to comment on his race, Norris stated: "I didn't have the best Turn 1, so hard to know how much that played a part. At the same time, Oscar came past me pretty easily.
"So even if I had a better Turn 1, his run and the slipstream probably still would have got me. Not too disappointed. Of course disappointed to finish second.
"When you saw Saturday and you saw today, then P1 didn't look the best place to begin with. I also didn't get the best Turn 1, so I need to look at what I could have done better.
Asked whether he rolled the dice by electing to use the hard tyres while his rivals opted for the yellow-banded medium, Norris stated that he thought that the white-walled compound would be "a slightly better tyre to the end."
"I wasn't. Will said, do I want the Hard tyre? And I said yes. That was about it. I didn't even know Oscar was on the Medium, to be honest with you. That didn't influence my decision.
"I thought the Hard tyre would be a slightly better tyre to the end, a bit trickier to get warmed up and the opening laps maybe would be a little bit more of a struggle, which I think it was.
"The last few laps, I had the advantage in terms of grip, but it was not a great pit stop, I was the second one to stop. I think I lost eight, nine seconds just by being the second car to box.
"To catch Oscar from that gap is quite an achievement. I gave it a good shot, but just not close enough," Norris concluded.
