Lando and Oscar reflect on "the best pace" they've had all season

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were left to wonder what might have been after a Belgian Grand Prix in which the pace was good, but a myriad of factors held us back.

Off the back of his P4 at Silverstone, Lando finished third in Qualifying but started 13th after a 10-place grid penalty for exceeding the permitted number of allocated power electronics units.

Oscar, meanwhile, started in sixth place on the grid, and while both ended up moving up on race day – Oscar finishing P5 and Lando P7 – both felt that there was scope for an even better result.

Lando, in particular, was put on the back foot, and not only because of his grid penalty. He was also penalised by an untimely Virtual Safety Car period to clear debris from the track, which wasn’t exploited in the pits as it could have made his second stint on the Medium too long, exposing him to high tyre degradation.

There was also a technical issue on his pit stop, which made his life even more difficult, costing him a precious few seconds and at least one position on track.

“We should have finished a lot better, honestly,” he said. “The pace was easily good enough for a potential podium. I felt very confident with the balance and knew exactly what the car was going to do, which is a huge positive for us going forward. It'sa slight shame about the result though - everything that could have made our life difficult today did.

"We were unlucky with the VSCs. We probably should have taken the pit stop with the VSCs, even if it would have resulted in a double shuffle. It would have been a long stint on the Medium, but I am going to save more time by boxing under VSC than I am by going five laps longer.

"The unfortunate delay with a technical issue on the pit stop cost a significant amount of time, which ultimately translates into track position and points.

“When you have the pace to achieve a great result but are held back by challenging factors like that, it's frustrating. We will now work to analyse what went wrong and learn from it before hitting the track in Hungary.”

The positive for Lando was that the car's pace was as good as it has been all campaign. So, ahead of a trip to a happy hunting ground in Hungary, there are certainly some positive signs, even if he admits that the track in Spa played its part.

He added: “The pace was very strong, probably the best pace we have had all season. Honestly, I think we may have had the pace to win the race today, which is very positive. I don’t know why, we’ve not really changed anything since last weekend.

“Next weekend is the first time we will bring, hopefully, a good upgrade to the car, so we will be patient and see if that works properly, albeit on a track that is completely different from Spa, at the Hungaroring".

Oscar’s race was not short of drama either, with a promising start that was hindered by contact with Charles Leclerc.

That incident left its mark and, as with Lando’s travails, may have been the difference between a podium challenge and having to settle for a place further back.

Finishing fifth behind Lewis Hamilton was not what Oscar had hoped for, and with just a one-week turnaround before heading to the Hungaroring, he knows that there is no time to waste.

He said: “We had good pace today, especially in the first stint, and the podium wasn't out of the question, which is a positive we can take.

“However, it was certainly not a straightforward race for us. The damage we sustained after the contact with Charles Leclerc just made things much more difficult, as we were losing a few tenths per lap.

"I struggled for the rest of that stint, and while we compensated a little for it in the second stint, the race was tougher than it needed to be, as I was facing higher tyre degradation.

"We definitely need a bit more performance as it feels like we're just that one step behind, we are always trying to hang on to the cars ahead, which isn't the easiest position to be in.

“We're looking ahead now, and hopefully the new upgrades we plan to bring will help us close that gap and compete more consistently. Let's see what we can do in Hungary."