Featured Image Credit: Clive Rose / Staff via Getty
Topics: Formula 1, Lando Norris, McLaren, Motorsport, Oscar Piastri
James Taylor
Topics: Formula 1, Lando Norris, McLaren, Motorsport, Oscar Piastri
Lando Norris has addressed being booed on the Monza podium after he swapped positions with Oscar Piastri following a team order from McLaren.
The Englishman cut the gap to his McLaren teammate in the drivers' championship with a second-place finish at the Italian Grand Prix.
Although he remains 31 points behind Piastri, there are eight races left this season - giving Norris plenty of time to claw back the deficit.
The Italian Grand Prix was a quiet race, with Max Verstappen dominating to win by almost 20 seconds.
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The most dramatic moment came late in the race when the two McLaren teammates were involved in a tense pit stop mishap.
With Norris ahead of his teammate, he had priority for when he wanted to pit.
But McLarens decided to extend both drivers' stint on medium tyres, leaving Piastri vulnerable to Charles Leclerc.
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Norris agreed to McLaren's demands to allow Piastri first into the pits to cover off the Ferrari, as he was assured it would not cost him track position.
The Englishman's pit stop took several seconds longer than it ought to, which meant he re-joined behind his world championship rival.
McLaren stepped in and asked Piastri over team radio to give the position back.
Although he questioned the decision, he begrudgingly agreed and allowed Norris through.
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With Verstappen up the road, the two McLarens secured second and third.
But not all supporters at Monza were happy with McLaren's decision and decided to boo Norris on the podium.
When asked about the boos, Norris said: "Yeah, I don't know. I don't know why [I was being booed].
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"So, I heard them, but, yeah, I don't know what I'm going to do.
"I heard the cheers louder than the boos and that's most important."
Although there was frustration among F1 supporters that McLaren swapped the cars, both drivers backed the team's decision.
Norris accepted the situation was not ideal, but said that the team do what they think is right as a group.
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He added: "We are not idiots and we have plans for different things. If there were four cars between me and Oscar, of course he is not going to let me back past and that is correct.
"But if there is a situation where we are racing and you can be fair, you would expect to be fair as a team."
Piastri also said he did not regret his decision to follow team orders and he described it as a "fair decision".