A “devastated” Lando Norris took responsibility for staying out as heavy rain hit the Sochi circuit during the closing laps of the Russian Grand Prix.
Norris had been leading the race ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, but light rain hit the circuit with just a handful of laps remaining. Both Hamilton and Norris refused calls from their teams to pit for intermediate tyres, but as it fell harder with just four laps remaining, Hamilton caved and dived into the pits.
Norris however stayed out and that decision proved crucial as the rain turned torrential, forcing the Briton to tiptoe around the circuit. He would then spin, allowing Hamilton through, forcing him to stop for wet tyres which saw him drop down to seventh.
“I don’t know where to start,” said Norris. “Obviously unhappy. Devastated in a way, but I guess we made a call to stay out and we stand by that call. Of course the wrong one at the end but I made the decision as much as the team.
“They thought I should box and I decided to stay out, so my decision, I thought it was the way to go.
“Just a bit of heartbreak you know, felt like I did everything I could even when it got tricky, made a couple of mistakes and still kept Lewis behind. I got told the rain would be the same amount, but it obviously got a lot wetter than we as a team expected.”
Before the rain came, Norris had driven a faultless race and looked set for the win and says he can at least take some positives away from the weekend in which he secured his maiden pole position.
“Of course it was wrong at the end, but we did an excellent job, so I’m happy with everything apart from that one decision.”
