Lando Norris says his dramatic retirement from the Dutch Grand Prix “hurts” as McLaren team principal Andrea Stella expressed his regret over Sunday’s car failure.
Norris reported an oil leak with just eight laps to go in in Zandvoort when running in second behind team-mate Oscar Piastri, who won the race, and quickly grinded to a halt as his McLaren smoked away.
The reliability failure, which McLaren are unclear whether it was caused by the chassis or their Mercedes power unit, puts Norris 34 points behind Piastri in the title race with nine rounds to go.
“I just want to go have a burger and go home,” Norris told Sky Sports F1.
“It’s frustrating, it’s not like I’m happy about today. It hurts and to lose, 25 points outright, it would have been seven points, it would have been smaller.
“I just have to keep fighting, keep doing what I can. I was quick today. I thought I could fight for a win. If you’re fighting for a win around here, that’s normally just a good job already.
“I take the positives, I look on, I’ll try to bounce back. I’ve got tough competition, so it’s never going to be easy, but really make sure I do everything I can.”
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A deflated Lando Norris says he ‘just wants a burger and to go home’ after a disappointing Dutch Grand Prix, which saw a major blow to his championship chances
McLaren have said all season-long they did not want an operational mistake or mechanical failure to decide the narrative of the Drivers’ Championship to ensure Piastri and Norris had an equal chance of winning the title.
The last McLaren car failure was over two-and-a-half years ago in Bahrain. However, prior to Zandvoort, the other Mercedes powered teams – Mercedes, Aston Martin and Williams – have all suffered engine problems this season.
“I think today we experienced the two sides of motorsport,” McLaren team principal Stella told Sky Sports F1.
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Highlights of the Dutch Grand Prix from Zandvoort
“On one side, we have the joy, the satisfaction of another victory for McLaren, a deserved victory for Oscar – he ran a very strong and clean weekend.
“And on the opposite side, we have the disappointment and the pain for our retirement. Lando was in contention to try to win the race. It was certainly P1, P2 possible today for McLaren. We had the joy and the pain at the same time, this is motor racing.
“It would be unfair to speculate whether it’s a chassis problem or an engine problem. We are one team, we go together, there’s no difference in terms of where the responsibility lies. We will review, we will see where the problem is, we will fix it and we will go again.”
Piastri: Points lead ‘not a comfortable margin’
Piastri turned the tables over the Zandvoort weekend when it mattered most after Norris topped all three practice sessions.
When it mattered most, Piastri pipped his team-mate to pole position by 0.012s which gave him track position for Sunday’s race, which he led from start to finish.
Ultimately, Norris’ retirement meant none of that mattered but Piastri proved once again he can deliver under the highest of pressure.
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McLaren’s Oscar Piastri reveals he had a scary moment behind the Safety Car that he feared might cost him the win at the Dutch Grand Prix
“I think qualifying was the key this weekend. Through the free practice sessions, it was looking like a difficult Zandvoort again, but we chipped away, tried to find time, tweak the car here and there,” he said.
“But, I just tried to really improve how I was driving because, let’s be honest, it’s pretty hard to complain about the car we’ve got. So just tried to chip away with that and it came good when it mattered.
“Through the race today, I felt like I had good pace as well and used that when I needed to. So massively proud of firstly myself, but also the whole team around me in turning it around from 12 months ago.”
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Oscar Piastri wins the Dutch Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen in P2 and Isack Hadjar P3
Piastri, who is looking to become just the third Australian F1 world champion after Jack Brabham and Alan Jones, says he will not play the percentage game, despite his big lead.
“There’s still a long way to go. I need to keep pushing and trying to win races still,” he added.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a very comfortable margin. As we saw today, it can change with one DNF very, very quickly. So this far out from the end of the year, it’s not a comfortable gap.”
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