Lando Norris has clarified that he was happy with the strategy McLaren had put him on during the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.
Norris saw himself start the 56-lap race at the Circuit of the Americas from the fourth row of the grid after a track limits deletion on his final Q3 lap.
Starting from eighth on the grid, the 2025 F1 World Champion did finally manage to take the chequered flag in fifth, albeit on a tricky one-stop strategy.
The likes of Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, who were on the seemingly preferred two-stopper, were able to get Norris in the latter phase of the race on much fresher rubber.
“I was just on way too old tyres,” Norris told media including Motorsport Week.
“He [Verstappen] had already done two pit stops. I was still surprised. Like the pace was still very good at that point on the hard tyre, comparing to them.
“So I was quite surprised at that part of the race we could be as strong as we were, but inevitably, as soon as he had Overtake [Mode], and I had to use boost to defend, he was going to come past quite easily.
“So he did that, and as soon as I then have traffic on old tyres, then it’s kind of game over, and it’s easy for everyone else.
“So clean air was saving me a lot, and obviously I managed to keep him behind for a few laps. But just the degradation was starting to become too much on a hard tyre.
“So it was good fun. I felt like it was a nice battle. In the end, [it] was just impossible to keep them behind, especially with how quick Charles was. He was very, very quick. Obviously, he finished P2. So yeah, I had no chance, but we gave it a good shot.”
Lando Norris dispels McLaren strategy concerns at F1 US GP
Learning that the Woking-based team had chosen to hold him to the one-stopper, Norris wasn’t best pleased on his team radio comms.
In fact, the McLaren driver had asked to be left alone for the remainder of the race.
But speaking after the Grand Prix, Norris clarified that he was not miffed about the strategy; rather, he believed the team did a “very good job” on the pit wall.
“No, I was very happy with the team. We did a good job today,” he added.
“They were just debating whether to box onto different tyres or not. I was hoping to have a better chance with the hard tyre, but the hard tyre just degraded.
“So it was more: did we want to box and be safe and box onto another set of tyres, or did we want to stay out? And we just chose to stay out.
“No, no disagreements. I think they did a very good job with the strategy.”
Norris currently sits sixth in the drivers’ standings heading into the Mexico City GP.
READ MORE – ‘I was praying’: Norris rues safety car timing after Austin one-stop gamble
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