Lando Norris conceded he “f***ed up” as he apologised to McLaren for the yellow flag violation that saw him miss out on a podium at the Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix.
Norris was running in second place close behind race leader Max Verstappen when he was handed a 10-second stop-and-go penalty which sent him right to the back.
The incident transpired on Lap 30 when Norris was deemed to not have slowed for double waved yellows when Alex Albon’s wing mirror was stranded on the straight.
Norris’ misery was then compounded as the verdict came 15 laps later once the Safety Car had been called out due to punctures for Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton.
With the pack bunched up, Norris, who had been hounding Verstappen’s Red Bull on the restart, spiralled down the order to last place to cost McLaren valuable points.
Norris revealed that he hadn’t noticed that cautions were being shown on the main straight, but he admitted the decision was the right one based on the infringement.
“Disappointed, of course,” Norris told media including Motorsport Wee post-race.
“I let the team down, the team gave me a great car today. Easily the quickest out there and I f***ed it up.
“I don’t know what I did wrong. I’m not an idiot, if there’s a yellow flag I know I need to slow down. That’s rule number one, don’t go past people.
“For some reason, I didn’t do that today, because I’ve not seen it or I’ve missed it or something. I have to take it on the chin.
“If they think I’ve done something wrong, I must have done something wrong. I can only apologise for the rest of the year to the team.”
Norris also denied that he had qualms with the punishment that was dished out to him or the timing of the decision that granted him with little time to recover ground.
“If I did what they said I did wrong, then good on them for giving me the quick penalty,” he added.
Norris has no issue with Verstappen’s radio complaint
Verstappen was heard alerting the stewards to Norris’ misdemeanour over the team radio, but the McLaren driver has acknowledged that he would’ve done the same.
“Good, good on him,” Norris quipped. That’s what everyone does. Happy for him.”
Norris produced a storming late charge to come back through to 10th place to salvage a single point, which was doubled as he also posted the fastest lap of the race.
“I didn’t give up until the end, I did my best I could,” he stated. “I’m disappointed, two points for the quickest car I’ve ever seen.”
Norris rues missed chance in Qatar
But Norris’ mishap was a blow to McLaren’s strive to win the Constructors’ Championship as Oscar Piastri’s third place wasn’t enough to stop Ferrari slashing its lead.
Norris professed that he wasted a golden chance to all but help McLaren seal the deal as the gap is 21 points heading into the final round in Abu Dhabi next weekend.
“In the same as we were every other weekend, the team gave me the best car out there today,” he highlighted.
“I’m very happy and thankful for them to do so.
“I got a good start, I got past George [Russell]. I thought George would be our biggest competitor today and that wasn’t the case. Max was and he did an incredible job.
“We go in the same as every weekend, wanting to win, wanting to be the best, wanting to be the fastest. I just need to not be an idiot and do what I did.”
Asked whether he thinks McLaren’s MCL38 car will be as competitive in Abu Dhabi as it was in Qatar, Norris responded: “I don’t think it will be as good as today.
“It’s a massive opportunity lost and I’ve disappointed the whole team. The only thing I care about is my team.”
READ MORE – Max Verstappen wins Qatar GP as Ferrari keep F1 title race alive
Discussion about this post