F1
Lando Norris failed to chase down his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri during the closing stages of the Belgian Grand Prix as a series of errors interrupted his progress; watch the Hungarian Grand Prix from this Friday, live on Sky Sports F1
Monday 28 July 2025 11:00, UK
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Nico Rosberg says he doesn’t believe a driver of Lewis Hamilton’s level would have made the mistakes Lando Norris did during the Belgian Grand Prix.
Norris started on pole at Spa but lost the lead to his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri on the first racing lap of the grand prix after a rain delay.
A split in strategies gave Norris the chance to chase down Piastri in the closing stages of the race, but the Brit made three crucial mistakes before eventually finishing three seconds back at the chequered flag.
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The result saw Piastri extend his lead over Norris at the top of the Drivers’ Championship to 16 points as both seek a maiden title.
Reflecting on the errors, Norris told Sky Sports F1: “I had a couple of lock-ups in Turn 1, I went off in Pouhon, I had a big bump. I lost a couple of seconds there.
“At the same time, Oscar made some mistakes as well. It’s just the conditions were tricky. I’m sure everyone makes mistakes like that. Especially for me, when I was trying to gain that time, I had to push. I couldn’t just chill.
“And when you’re playing on the edge like that, you’re going to make some mistakes. But that’s racing, that’s life.”
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Reacting to Norris’ comments, Sky Sports F1 pundit and 2016 world champion Rosberg drew a comparison between the McLaren driver and seven-time world champion Hamilton.
He said: “That’s fair play. To listen to Lando’s words there, that he was just qualifying lap after qualifying lap on the absolute edge, and then perhaps a couple of mistakes like that happen.
“I just question whether someone like Hamilton, if he also would have made three mistakes, which I’m not sure.
“Pushing like crazy in a race like that, when there’s Hammer-time – I’m not sure. I think they don’t happen then, those three mistakes.”
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The long run up the Kemmel Straight in the first sector at Spa makes it hugely challenging for the pole-sitter to retain the lead on the opening lap.
Piastri was overtaken on the straight by Max Verstappen in Saturday’s Sprint, but the Australian switched roles on Sunday as he eased past Norris.
Norris dismissed the suggestion that a battery issue had played a part in him losing the lead at the start as he claimed there was little he could have done to resist Piastri’s challenge.
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He told Sky Sports F1: “The slipstream, and we saw it already on Saturday. The slipstream, especially when it’s wet and especially when you’re the first car, you have to push through the first bit of water, which means the following effect in the rain like this is even more than normal.
“I didn’t get the best Turn 1, so I need to go and look at things. I had two snaps on the exit, and maybe that could have got me out of trouble. But I think it only would have given Oscar an even bigger slipstream to pass me.
“Like we saw on Saturday, it’s just tough to lead from the beginning. I’m not saying I did the best job, but it just seems like this weekend, it was a headwind down that straight and just pretty much impossible to keep ahead.”
Piastri saw the race’s defining moment as less simple than his team-mate, insisting he had to take “some risks” to pull off the move.
He told Sky Sports F1: “I had to be committed. I got a good run out of Turn 1, then I could stay very close through Eau Rouge.
“It was not the easiest, there were a few moments, but then I could stay super close out of there.
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“Then the actual overtake itself was reasonably straightforward. I could get ahead before the braking zone.
“But the leading up to it took some risks.”
Piastri had to expertly manage his medium tyres on the final stint, with Norris’ hard-compound set giving him an advantage.
He added: “I felt good on the mediums for about five laps, and then when I could see that the hard on Lando’s car was not worse than the medium, I was a bit nervous considering we had nearly 25 laps to go at that point.
“So, I had to be a bit careful, but it held on in the end much better than I feared it would. I had to manage a bit, but nothing special.”
F1 immediately heads to the Hungarian Grand Prix for the final race before the sport’s summer break, watch live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
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