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However, the reality was very different from the start. Once the race finally began after a delay of nearly an hour and a half, the British driver was immediately overtaken by Piastri on the Kemmel straight, even though DRS was not available at that moment.
Lando Norris
Norris under fire from Rosberg and Schumacher
“Norris didn’t implement that optimally. At the start behind the safety car, I had the feeling that he was asleep a bit and Piastri was already in the gearbox,” Nico Rosberg said via Sky Deutschland. ”He couldn’t surprise Piastri when he drove off.”
Words fully echoed by Ralf Schumacher, who also criticized Norris’s start: “If Lando does it a little smarter, he has the air he needs. He was a bit too slow, got oversteer out of the first corner and then it was relatively easy for Piastri.”
After switching to slicks in the first third of the race, Norris showed he could even match or exceed his teammate’s pace, closing the gap lap after lap.
However, the many mistakes he made ultimately compromised his comeback—another factor that drew criticism from the two former German drivers.
Too many mistakes
”He should have pushed more, then he was at a big disadvantage. Due to the stop one lap later, he simply had a gap that he never closed. The out-lap on the hard tyres also took too long,” Schumacher said.
”That’s typical Norris. A Hamilton or a Verstappen wouldn’t have had three such mistakes in it,” Rosberg added.
”Lando still had a chance at the end of the race because he had the hard tyres. And Piastri’s tyres were getting worse and worse. But he had three penalties and lost a second three times. Those were exactly the three seconds that were missing to have another chance to attack at the end.”
With the point scored in the sprint and the 7 from the Grand Prix, Piastri now leads his teammate by 16 points in the Drivers’ Championship.
It’s still a manageable gap for Lando, with 11 races remaining, but Oscar’s powerful overtake sent a clear message to his title rival.
