Lando Norris says McLaren “should have won” the Canadian Grand Prix but “didn’t do a good enough job as a team” in handling the first Safety Car stage of the rain-hit race.
The Briton ended up finishing Sunday’s wet race in second place to Max Verstappen, but the 24-year-old believes he can, and should, finish higher.
After qualifying third on the grid, Norris overtook first Verstappen and then George Russell on consecutive laps to lead the Montreal race on lap 21 with McLaren reveling in intermediate tire conditions.
Norris’ speed in that stage of the race, when he was in the lead, he opened up an advantage in the region of 11 seconds for four laps until lap 25, when Logan Sargeant crashed into Williams in Turn Five.
When Race Control took the decision to call the Safety Car a moment later, Norris was in the final corner of the track, which contained the entry to the pit.
McLaren continued on the track for another lap but the gap returned to Verstappen and Russell obviously that their respective teams had enough time before they reached the pit entry to decide to come in. track after being taken by the Safety Car and, although he pitted the next time around, the 24-year-old again went out onto the track back behind both Red Bull and Mercedes.
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Lando Norris beat George Russell and Max Verstappen to claim the lead at the Canadian Grand Prix
Talk to Sky Sports F1 immediately after the race, Norris said that when McLaren “did not have enough time to make a decision” to pit immediately, he admitted that “realistically, we should have had the decision planned, and we didn’t”.
He later clarified his views on what happened at the post-race press conference.
“We should have won the race today and we didn’t, so it’s frustrating,” Norris said. “We had the pace. It probably didn’t dry up at the end. It didn’t really matter.
“But yes, we have to win today. It’s as simple as that. We didn’t do a good job, I think, a good enough job as a team to box when we had to do it and not get stuck behind the Safety Car. So I don’t think there is good luck or bad luck.”
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Max Verstappen and Lando Norris hilariously react to their fight out of the pit at the Canadian Grand Prix
Norris benefited from a Safety Car moment in his first F1 win ahead of Verstappen at the Miami GP last month, but the Briton said of the situation on Sunday: “I don’t think it’s the same as in Miami. It was just the wrong call.
“So, it’s in me and it’s in the team and it’s something we’ll talk about after. We have to win today. I think we’re now at a level where we’re not satisfied with the second, like the target to win. And we didn’t do that, it’s frustrating, but it was a tough race and he was still in second place when he finished and it could have been worse.
Should McLaren win? Stella describes ‘marginal returns’
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella also admitted they “could have won” but said the bigger picture was one of the driving forces behind the team.
In a weekend where Ferrari scored zero points, McLaren moved to within 40 points of the second-placed Italian team in the Constructors’ Championship.
“It played into our hands in Miami, this time the Safety Car, if there was one, didn’t help when we came into the race when Lando was like two seconds faster than everyone else,” said Stella. Sky Sports F1.
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Highlights from the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal
“At the same time, it was too late before entering the pits, so we stayed out and that meant we had to stop in the next lap and we lost positions.
“It’s a marginal advantage. What’s more important is another podium. We’re there to compete for the podium in all conditions. On dry tires now we’re not necessarily the fastest car.
“So it’s another strong result, it gives us optimism for the future and it’s also a good point.”
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