The United States Grand Prix marked the 100th race for Lando Norris. The first victory is still awaited.
Sunday’s race seemed like the perfect opportunity, as Norris took the lead on the opening lap from poleman Charles Leclerc and managed to lead the first half of the Grand Prix. Yet the high degradation and temperatures played to his disadvantage.
“Yes, just leading the race. I could control it a lot, but just not enough today,” commented Norris.“But I’m happy. It was a good race for my side.
“We knew our struggles, we knew what was going to be difficult today. And it was just the degradation but the pace over the first 10 laps of every stint, the pace in the beginning was strong.
“I just couldn’t hold on long enough. So we’re getting there. Progress, progress every weekend. Just some more steps needed.”
Photo Credit: McLaren Racing
Norris was still able to hold on for third, later promoted to P2 after a disqualification for Lewis Hamilton. Sunday’s result marked his fourth consecutive rostrum podium appearance.
In the course of the race, after being overtaken by Verstappen, the McLaren driver tried to defend against the attack of Hamilton but eventually had to concede, as he explained:
“I had to try, right? But I just couldn’t do it. I didn’t have enough tyres left at the end, you saw how quickly he pulled away at the end. So you know, I always had to look after my own race.
“I did the best I could. I had to push and look after the tyres, and it was just too difficult today. So maybe if it was a cooler track it would have suited us a little bit more but it wasn’t. But I’m still happy.
“The team have done an excellent job to finish on the podium here. It was better than we were expecting coming into the weekend. So very happy.”
