Lando Norris was left deflated by two strategy calls at the British Grand Prix, admitting frustration that he and the McLaren Formula 1 team had «thrown away» another potential win.
Although Norris lost position to Max Verstappen on the opening lap of the grand prix, the McLaren driver began to grow into the race and, as the conditions worsened, had a surplus of pace versus the leading duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
The tyre temperature retention of the McLaren persisted through the switch to intermediates, and Norris was able to maintain the lead when the circuit was at its wettest.
However, the Bristol-born racer was undone by the crossover to slicks; first, he ended up losing the lead to Hamilton after stopping a lap later than the eventual winner, and then lost position to Verstappen as his soft tyres began to degrade.
Norris stated after the race: «[He and the team] are not making the right decisions, but at the same time I blame myself today for not making some of the right decisions. I hate it. I hate ending in this position and having excuses for not doing a good enough job.»
He later added: «So many things were going well, and we threw it away in the final stop. It was one lap, but also I don’t think it was the lap.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
«I think even if I boxed on the perfect lap, our decision to go onto the soft was the wrong one, and I think Lewis still would have won no matter what. Two calls from our side cost us everything today so, especially here, it’s pretty disappointing.»
Norris felt that McLaren had lagged behind the Mercedes duo in the first stint but, when the conditions became more damp, the MCL38s started to improve relative to the Mercedes.
Although he felt that McLaren had not been the outright fastest among the races where it had contended for victory, he underlined his frustration that he had not added to his Miami victory.
«We weren’t quick enough today, I think. When it was completely dry, the Mercedes was a lot quicker. [In damp conditions] maybe we seemed a bit better. But we have work to do.
«I don’t think we’ve still had the weekend where we’ve clearly been the quickest. We’ve always been there and there are battles, but never had ‘the’ car.
«We need to keep working as a team. I need to keep working on my own stuff, and just try and put it together, because there are still so many positives.
«There are so many good things, and so many things in place. But it’s frustrating a few times this season we’ve thrown away something that should’ve been ours.»