Lando Norris described himself as “insanely unlucky” after a mistimed pit stop cost him the race lead in the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix, converting a dominant run at the front into a P3 finish.
The Brit started from pole position at the Madring, and held the lead despite a poor getaway, and after some early chaotic racing, looked set to take his third win of the season.
But when taking a tyre stop on Lap 16, a Virtual Safety Car was called after Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin stopped on track, a decision that cost Norris dear, as he entered the pits five seconds before.
It effectively ended his chances of winning the race, and would ultimately have to settle for third behind eventual winner Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen.
When asked if the race had got away from him, Norris, speaking to media, including Motorsport Week, pushed back.
“Depends how you define it got away,” he said. “It’s not like we did anything that made us lose it. We’ve just been insanely unlucky today.”
Norris was quick to point out that the situation which cost him the win was unique to his car alone. “I was the only one on the whole grid that didn’t get the chance to do the pit stop,” he said.
“That’s just unfortunate. It’s happening in races, and there’s been plenty of times where I’ve gained from it in the past, and times where I’ve lost from it.”
“It’s racing, but never when fighting for a win. I think it’s probably one of the first times a win has been lost simply because of it.”
Lando Norris: Madring pit stop woe ‘not mine or McLaren’s fault’
The frustration, he said, was sharpened by the form he had shown all weekend. “It’s frustrating, especially after the performance yesterday and the performance I was putting in at the beginning of the race, when I had all race,” he said. “Of course, I feel like I deserve more today, but the others also did a good race.”
Asked whether he had considered pre-empting the situation himself, given where Lance Stroll’s car was positioned on track, Norris said it was not a call he felt he could have made alone in the cockpit.
“How was I meant to know?” he said. “The pit wall may have been able to warn me, but I didn’t speak to the pit wall. I’m just driving the car. I don’t know these things. I need to go speak to the team and see what else… it’s not the team’s fault, it’s not my fault.”
On strategy, Norris confirmed there was no alternative once his final stint began: “I had to come in at the end of that lap because it was the only chance.
“There was still, effectively, some pit loss. The fact that everyone’s kind of on cold tyres and still minimising the pit loss.”
He was blunt about the difference between his two compounds across the stint. “The Medium tyre was destroyed,” he said. “The Hard tyre was amazing. So, unfortunate. But the pace was very, very strong, and on the Hard tyre, I think they were stuck. We caught up thirteen, fourteen seconds or more almost.”
Despite the result, Norris pointed to the weekend’s pace as the reason to stay glass-half-full.
“So, plenty of positives,” he said. “A day full of positives. Just one thing and it’s all done.”
READ MORE – Kimi Antonelli christens the Madring with maiden F1 Spanish GP win
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