Lando Norris explains why he closed DRS to hold off Oscar Piastrifor Austria GP win

Lando Norris has lifted the lid on his DRS strategy at the Austrian Grand Prix, during which he closed his rear wing before opening it again within the DRS zone between turns 3 and 4. Speaking to the press on Thursday ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, the driver confirmed it was to aid in his defence against team-mate and title contender Oscar Piastri.

“My driving,” he joked when asked what area he’s been focusing on to improve. “How I drive the car, my ability to adapt to more driving styles, let’s say. That’s really the main thing, how I drive the car. It’s also my job at the end of the day to drive whatever car I get given as quickly as possible.

“I mix some more things away from the track with my team. I have a very good group of people around me, so working on things on the track and off the track, how I can approach the weekends in a better way.

“Most of it is just how I can work on being a better driver in the situation of struggling with things that I don’t like or I’m not used to or changes on the car for this year.”

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

While Norris hasn’t been entirely comfortable in the machinery McLaren has supplied him with this season, his situational awareness has been on full display recently. While the Austrian Grand Prix saw him convert his pole position into a race win, he spent the majority of the race watching his papaya-coloured mirrors as Piastri lunged for position a number of times.

Closing his rear wing to manipulate his track position, Norris placed his car in the ideal spot to keep Piastri at bay.

“It was to keep Oscar on the outside with the same speed,” he explained. “If I continued with DRS, I’d be ahead and he could maybe do the switchback or something. It was just to maintain my speed and keep him on my left wheel.”

A near-miss at Turn 4 saw the Australian lock his brakes behind Norris before the Briton was asked to pit as Piastri continued on his first set of tyres. Piastri would finish second behind his team-mate, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completing the podium.

Photos from Belgian GP – Friday