Lando Norris denied the idea that starts continue to be a weakness for him in Formula 1. After losing the lead to Kimi Antonelli on the second start of the Dutch GP, the McLaren driver stated that he is among the best on the grid in this aspect.
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The situation gained prominence because Max Verstappen had caused a standing restart after his accident on the first lap in Zandvoort. On the new start, Antonelli managed to overtake Norris approaching the first corner, but the Briton later regained the position and won the race.
Norris explained that the loss of ground was not simply a consequence of a mistake on his part. According to him, the difference in grip between the two sides of the grid played an important role, something that had already been noticed on Saturday, when he identified less grip in the pole position compared to second place.
“I am one of the best starters on the grid. We saw yesterday (Saturday) that, from pole, the grip was less than in P2. That became evident again today (Sunday). I don’t know why. I need to check,” Norris said. He also said he had more wheel spin than expected, even adopting a more conservative approach at the start.
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The Briton also compared his situation with that of Oscar Piastri on the first start, when the Australian was on the inside line, which had a wetter track. Norris assessed that his teammate was able to attack the start more aggressively, while he faced traction difficulties.
“I don’t want to simply blame myself or the team at this moment. Certainly, a big part was not understanding why I had so little grip compared to the right side of the grid,” Norris explained. He emphasized that he intends to analyze the data with McLaren before reaching a conclusion, but was categorical in rejecting the old narrative: “My starts have been very strong, so it certainly isn’t what you said,” concluded the British driver.
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