Piastri had demonstrated how tough it’s for the driving force on pole to steer by the top of the primary lap at Spa by dropping the dash race win to Pink Bull’s Max Verstappen.
The Dutchman slipstreamed previous Piastri up the hill to Les Combes, after which held the McLaren at bay for 15 laps, whereas Norris adopted intently in third.
Within the grand prix, it was Norris in entrance, with Piastri in second and Piastri had been fascinated by the chance this offered him since dropping out on pole the day earlier than.
McLaren workforce boss Andrea Stella stated: “This weekend, Oscar, if something, the one inaccuracy was in qualifying, the place his laps weren’t good.
“On the identical time, we’ve got to say that after the dash qualifying, he stated, ‘Yeah, I am in pole place, however possibly this isn’t the best place to be in pole place.’
“And as a joke, after the qualifying yesterday, he stated, ‘That was not my finest lap in Q3, however maybe that is the perfect place to not have the perfect lap in Q3.'”
Certain sufficient, Piastri took the lead on lap one of many grand prix, simply as Verstappen had the day earlier than.
“I had an excellent run out of Flip One,” he stated, “after which tried to be as courageous as I may via Eau Rouge and was capable of keep fairly shut. After that, the slipstream did the remaining for me.
“After I watched the onboard again, it did not look fairly as scary because it felt within the automotive. I knew that I needed to be very dedicated to tug that off.”
However Norris may have finished a greater job. For a begin, he didn’t construct himself a spot over the end line by arguably going too early on the restart. Then he made a mistake at La Supply, which allowed Piastri to be proper on his tail approaching Eau Rouge.
“I did not have the perfect Flip One,” Norris stated. “So it is onerous to understand how a lot that performed a component. On the identical time, Oscar got here previous me fairly simply. So even when I had a greater Flip One, his run and the slipstream most likely nonetheless would have gotten me.”
Stella stated: “It might have at all times been very tough for Lando to maintain the place beginning first on the security automotive restart. On the identical time, I believe Lando did not assist himself by not having an amazing hole on the end line.”
