Lando Norris doesn’t care about sprint victories

After being played with by George Russell on the formation lap, Lando Norris took a dominant drive in the Qatar Grand Prix sprint race on Saturday night before slowing down in the checkers and letting his teammate pass. Oscar Piastri.

Two races ago, before Max Verstappen secured the championship in Las VegasMcLaren ordered Oscar Piastri into second place after leading late in the Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race, securing an extra point for Norris as he attempted to maintain a manageable margin behind Verstappen.

While it was the team’s decision in Brazil, it was Norris’s decision in Qatar as he felt he owed that point and the win to his teammate. McLaren scored the optimal number of points in the sprint with a 1-2 and currently leads Ferrari in the battle for the Manufacturers’ Championship.

“It was a little closer than I expected, but I planned to do it from Brazil,” Norris told F1TV. “What I thought was best was probably a little vague; the team told me not to do it. I thought I could get away with it and I did it. Obviously, I don’t care, I’m not here to win.” drag racing, I’m here for races and a championship, but that didn’t go as planned.”

With a team victory assured and no damage in the tense final seconds, Norris isn’t worried about getting in trouble for ignoring his team’s radio message to stay in position on the penultimate lap.

“We finished in this order, we’re happy,” Will Joseph told Norris over the radio.

Piastri put himself in position to be the defending McLaren against the field when he took second place from Russell into the first corner. Norris stayed just ahead in the DRS range on every lap to ensure the two McLarens continued to lead the pack.

Russell, coming off his second win of the season in Las Vegas, was frustrated with McLaren’s blocking, but knew Mercedes would do something similar if they found themselves in a potential 1-2 situation.

“He was very close to turn one on a couple of occasions. Obviously it was very frustrating every lap, Lando backed off and gave Oscar the DRS. I understand why, but when you’re here, you’re fighting.” You want to give it your all and make a race for the fans. “It was quite infuriating.”

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