"The team asked me to do it, and I just did it," said Norris, who took the lead after the second pit stop but gave way to team-mate Piastri on lap 68.
McLaren, who had won the first start in nearly 12 years, was locked in infighting at the start of the race, and Piastri took the lead, with the two drivers having different tactics, Norris made the second pit stop on lap 48 to take the lead by about three seconds, but the team warehouse demanded that Norris give up the lead to Piastri.
"We know you're going to do it," said Will Joseph, race engineer who reminded Norris of the course and tyre condition.
"He'll have to catch me first," Norris responded, stretching the gap to five seconds over the next few laps until he slowed down at the end of lap 67.
McLaren's interaction reminded some fans of Red Bull Racing's "Multi 21" incident in Malaysia in 2013 when Red Bull Racing asked Webb and Vettel, who were separated from each other, to remain in position after the last pit stop, and although Webb complied, Vettel ignored the instructions and overtook Webb on lap 46 at the end, making Webber not only play the middle finger, but also question Vettel's actions with "Multi 21" in the podium preparation room, causing the interaction between the two sides to freeze in the future.
"It's not a single engineer's message, it's a pre-race agreement, which is why we have to meet on the morning of the final day to confirm everything, and I'm sure no driver is happy to say, 'OK, let's move back to the way we started', it's not in the driver's nature, and if Lando did answer that, I would be quite worried," explains McLaren team principal Andrea Stella.
Perhaps the McS, who had been given a chance to control the game, made a consensus in the pre-race meeting that "whoever can grab Turn 1 first will win the race", so that the top management could get a basis for asking Norris to carry out the order, and Norris was not convinced, but finally complied.
This is Norris's second sacrifice for the team's best interests after not trying to overtake Ricardo in the 2021 final in Italy – and while McTeam has not yet had a chance to compete with Verstappen, and Norris should have Piastri's support in the future, as Stella said, the seven-point gap is still a disservice to Norris as he tries to secure second place in the standings, given that Verstappen only finished fifth [and could change due to post-race surveys].
Regardless of whether Norris, who was set as the main leader, carried out the instructions or not, and the two drivers continued to interact as much as possible after the race, the incident would inevitably have a negative impact on the McS, who were in the second place in the Constructors' Championship.