"We both could have been out": Lando Norris left unimpressed by Oscar Piastri's overtake at the start of the F1 Italian GP

Lando Norris reviewed the maneuver his teammate Oscar Piastri pulled early in the 2024 F1 Italian GP that gave him the lead. Norris feels that both cars could have been out of the race on the first lap with one small mistake.

The 24-year-old started the race at Monza from pole position. Piastri in the other McLaren started right beside him in P2. However, heading towards Turn 3 (Variante) on the opening lap, Piastri positioned himself on the outside line and braked late into the chicane. He snatched the lead in a potentially dangerous move which squeezed Norris enough to fall to P3.

Reviewing the overtake, Lando Norris mentioned that both cars could have crashed out of the race if he had braked a meter late into the corner.

"I mean, a little bit, obviously, I would have just braked a bit later if I needed to," he told Sky Sports. "We had a big gap behind and between us two cars, there's no risk. I feel like we got way too close for comfort. We both easily could have been out in that corner. If I braked one meter later."

"So, yeah, obviously, if I could rewind, I would do stuff slightly differently, but it is what it is. Oscar drove a good race. And so did Charles," Norris added.

Speaking of the possibilities of the race, Lando Norris sounded skeptical about taking the lead from Red Bull in the championship if they had managed to finish in a better position.

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Lando Norris points out the current weakness with the MCL38 despite consistent performances

McLaren's development trajectory has been a surprising one this season. Although traits of major improvement could be observed in the 2023 F1 season, they have taken themselves to the front of the grid.

Currently, the gap between Red Bull in the championship lead and McLaren is only 6 points. More consistent performances could promise the latter a successful campaign this season. However, when asked if the team could have pulled a 1 - 2 in the race and taken the lead in the championship, Lando Norris sounded skeptical.

"No, because maybe, I mean, maybe. Charles won by two seconds in the end. The fact he got ahead probably gained him two seconds over the course of the race. So, maybe, I don't know, Charles just drove a good race."

"They did something with strategy that we would not be able to achieve today. We thought of the one-stop. We were ready to try and do a one-stop. We just couldn't achieve it. Our degradation was too high from the front-ties. And it's probably a bit of a weakness from us at the minute."

McLaren looked positive about finishing the race on a one-stop. However, major degradation on the front tires pushed them into a two-stop race. Both Ferraris, however, stayed out. Although Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were able to overtake Carlos Sainz, his teammate Charles Leclerc had built a considerable lead and managed to win the race.