© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Lewis Hamilton says if his team asked his to move over for his team-mate, he would “do what my team asked me to do, as hard as it is”.
The Hungarian Grand Prix had many controversial moments, but possibly the biggest controversy came from McLaren’s team orders aimed at restoring their drivers’ positions after they have been switched through their final pit stops.
Oscar Piastri has been leading most of the race, with Lando Norris following him in P2, but then McLaren decided to pit Norris first, allowing him to undercut Piastri.
This was done to protect Norris’ P2, however, after Piastri’s final pit stop, the Briton was now in the lead.
McLaren then asked Norris to let Piastri through, so that they can restore their previous order, but he waited until the final three laps of the race to finally obey the order.
In the meantime his race engineer was doing his best to convince him to do what the team has requested, which led to very tense exchanges.
Ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was asked what he thinks Norris should have done in this situation.
“It’s not my call to make,” the Briton said.
“If I was in that situation, I would do what my team asked me to do, as hard as it is. It’s not about you.
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“You’re representing and working with 2,000 people. Ultimately, I think he made the right decision,” Hamilton concluded.
Lando’s friend George Russell was also asked to give his thoughts on the situation.
“When you’re in the car, there’s so many emotions at play, you’re very narrow-minded and often thinking mainly about yourself first,” George said.
“Norris, and myself as well, don’t have that many victories to our names so you can’t take it for granted that there’ll be another one right around the corner.
“But as Lewis said, it’s not about us, it’s about the team we’re representing.
“Knowing Lando, if I was watching that race live, I would think he was always going to give the place back. But I think often a driver wants to prove their point to a certain degree.
“For me, it would have never been a doubt that he would go against it,” he concluded.
