Norris: Piastri has done a lot for me in the past

McLaren may have taken their first one-two grand prix finish since the 2021 Italian GP at Monza, when Daniel Ricciardo won from Lando Norris, but their result was tarnished by the manner in which they handled their strategy and how they managed their drivers.

Norris who started from pole lost out to Piastri at the start, but McLaren's strategy which they claimed they devised to cover Lewis Hamilton, meant the Briton undercut the Australian in the final stint.

Norris resisted his team's calls to give the lead back to Piastri before finally obeying the orders, clearly unhappy about it despite his best efforts to mask his feelings.

“It’s tough. It would be tough for anyone when you’re leading the race to give it up," Norris told Sky Sports F1 after the race.

“I was obviously put in the position. They made me box first and gave me the chance to lead the race and pull away quite comfortably and to do what I was doing. They also gave me the opportunity to do so.

"Therefore I think it was fair to give the position back. I don’t want to come across as the guy who is not fair. Oscar has done a lot for me in the past and helped me in many races.

“He drove a better race than I did. He got a good start, a better start and mine sucked. He deserved it and it was the right thing to do," he insisted.

Norris admitted that losing the lead to Piastri at the start was the cause of how his race unraveled, lamenting the fact that he couldn't close the gap further to Max Verstappen in the Formula 1 Drivers' Championship.

He said: "It hurts any time you’re going to give away a win and give it to someone. I know I shouldn’t have had it in the first place, which is I think the main point.

“When you are leading the race and have to give it back it hurts because in a drivers’ championship every point will help. I know I’m a hell of a long way behind Max in the championship, I get that, but it’s seven points I threw away today, gave away today – not because of switching positions, but just because of a bad start again. That’s where I lost my race today.

"A tough one but I don’t want to let it take away the fact we had a one-two as a team. That’s an incredible achievement from everyone," the 24-year-old concluded.

McLaren Team Principal, Andrea Stella, understood Norris' reluctance to give up his race lead, but believed his driver took the right decision.

Also speaking in Sky, Stella commented: "I don’t know any race driver that when he is leading a race would be happy to say ‘oh yeah, of course, why don’t we swap back the positions to the previous order?’ That’s not possible, that’s not the nature of the drivers.

"I would be extremely worried. You would see me very concerned if Lando would say so. That’s why we needed to recall our principles on Sunday morning," he added referring to McLaren's pre-race briefing.

"It’s true for a driver if we want to be competitive in the championship, for Lando in particular in the stronger position, he will need the support of Oscar and the support of the team. I think that’s how we are moving forward," the Italian concluded.