Peter Windsor shares what Lando Norris did during the Hungarian GP that was ‘absolutely outrageous’

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Lando Norris was embroiled in a team orders saga with McLaren during the closing stages of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Briton was running in second place behind Oscar Piastri and under a potential threat from Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, so McLaren prioritised him during the final pit stops over Piastri.

This was done on the premise that he would give the position back once a gap had been built, but what followed was a series of messages between Norris and his engineer Will Joseph effectively begging him to hand over the position to Piastri.

After several laps of pleading, Norris eventually returned it to Piastri after being reminded that it would be difficult to do if a Safety Car is brought out for any reason.

Nico Rosberg likened the whole saga to his days at Mercedes and team orders he faced in a title battle with Lewis Hamilton, while Peter Windsor shared his thoughts on the Briton speaking on his YouTube livestream.

Peter Windsor believes Lando Norris made a mistake in ‘giving away’ Hungary win

Norris was asked by his team several times to give the position back to Piastri, all while he was increasing his pace and building up a gap that exceeded five seconds to his teammate.

The thought from Norris is that he felt a big enough gap would cause the team not to risk the swap if Hamilton or Verstappen got nearer.

Windsor believes Norris made a mistake in not highlighting other issues with Piastri that occurred earlier in the race, which put them in this position in the first place.

“Before Lando came in for that famous undercutting second stop, it was Oscar Piastri that was running wide, losing time and making mistakes, allowing Lando to get as near as he was and to get the lead in the pit stop.

“So there were two things there: The mistakes Piastri was making under pressure from Lando and beyond that, there was the first corner. For that not to be mentioned by the team and for Lando to give away a Grand Prix win is absolutely outrageous.”

Why wasn’t Oscar Piastri investigated for the Turn 1 incident?

Piastri was alongside Norris at Turn 1 after getting a better start, while Verstappen appeared on the outside of both as they approached the corner three-wide.

The Australian made an ambitious move on the inside of the turn, forcing Norris to take avoiding action, while also causing Verstappen to take to the escape road.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from height and parents to celebration

Verstappen rejoined ahead of Norris but eventually give the place back due to risking a penalty, while Piastri maintained the lead without any investigation from the stewards.

This is because of the long-standing precedent stewards take over first-lap incidents, offering drivers more leniency due to the close proximity they often find themselves straight off the line.