Lando Norris says McLaren made two mistakes that cost it victory in the British Grand Prix and that he’s tired of missing out on opportunities.
Lewis Hamilton took a record-breaking ninth victory at Silverstone to secure his 104th win, jumping ahead of Norris by pitting one lap earlier to make the switch from intermediates back to slicks for the final part of the race. McLaren had a new set of medium tires available for the final stint — something its rivals did not have — but opted to follow Hamilton onto softs and failed to make them last as effectively, slipping to third behind Max Verstappen.
“I’ve heard that a lot lately, so I hate saying it again,” Norris said of a win that got away. “I mean, so many things were going well. We threw it away in the final stop, so one lap, but also I don’t think it was a lap. I think even if I boxed on the perfect lap, our decision to go on to the softs was the wrong one. I think Lewis still would have won no matter what. Two calls from our side cost us everything today. Especially here, pretty disappointing.”
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Norris has just one win so far this season but has been in the mix for multiple victories since a major upgrade was introduced in Miami, and he says he has a role in the final calls the team makes on strategy and has to take a share of responsibility.
“First of all, congrats to Lewis,” he said. “That crucial decision at the end, he just did a better job on, so hats off to him and Mercedes; they deserve it. It was tough; it was enjoyable. It was fun battling these guys, and these tricky conditions are always on a knife edge and you’re risking a lot. Many [good] things, but a few too many letdowns today. As a team, I don’t think we did quite the job we should have done, or good enough, but still lovely to be on the podium here in Silverstone.
“I’m not making the right decisions. …I blame myself today for not making some of the right decisions. I hate it. I hate ending in this position and forever having excuses for not doing a good enough job.
“But I’m still happy. I’m still going to enjoy it. I think we still did so many things right, so many positives. Especially here in Silverstone, the one place I would love everything to go perfectly, it didn’t today, but I’m good. We’ll come back stronger next year and try again.”