Speaking post-race, Lando Norris shared insights into his performance at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, highlighting a bold strategic choice that ultimately did not yield the expected results.
Norris explained the decision to extend his first stint on medium tyres, opting not to pit during an early Safety Car period like the vast majority of the field did. This “gamble”, he admitted, was a calculated risk that could have significantly changed their race outcome.
“We just tried it, we took the gamble,” Norris stated, reflecting on the team’s strategy. He was the first driver outside of Max Verstappen to lead laps this season because of it. He ultimately dropped to P4 before his stop.
“A Safety Car or a Virtual Safety Car could have come on late in the race and we would have looked like heroes, but we didn’t. I’m happy, we made a good decision, we tried something, it didn’t pay off today. It could have won us a lot of points and cost us maybe a couple of points at the end of the day.”
Despite the disappointment, Norris remained positive about the team’s performance and decision-making during the race. He praised the pace of the McLaren on medium tyres deep into his stint but acknowledged the rapid degradation of the soft tyres once he switched to them. It meant he did not catch Ollie Bearman.
“I expected a little bit more from the soft tyres at the end, but they just degraded after a couple of laps. Difficult, but I did what I could and I thought it was a good effort,” Norris commented on his late-race struggles.
The incident at the start, where Norris was investigated for a potential jump start after moving forward before stopping as the red lights were still on.
He described the moment as happening so swiftly, asserting that it did not provide him with any advantage.
“I don’t know what happened, it happened so quickly. I just went a little bit and then tried stopping again and then went again. But overall, I lost, I didn’t gain anything from it,” Norris clarified.
Oscar Piastri, Norris’s teammate, impressed with a strong finish in P4, placing McLaren in a promising position early in the Constructors’ Championship, P3 ahead of Mercedes.
Norris’s experience in Saudi Arabia exemplified the fine line between risk and reward in Formula 1, encapsulating the relentless pursuit of performance that defines the sport.
