After qualifying third behind the Mercedes in his home race at Silverstone, Lando Norris was a strong contender for the win on Sunday.
Norris went off slightly too wide at the race start which allowed the Red Bull of Max Verstappen to take third place from him. The Brit managed to get it back on lap 15.
As both the Mercedes went off the track on lap 18 at turn 1 in slippery conditions, Norris was able to lead the British Grand Prix by lap 20 as he overtook Russell and Hamilton. A few laps later it turned into a relatively comfortable 1-2 with his teammate Oscar Piastri.
As rain started to trickle in, Norris pitted on lap 28 and stayed out front.
Norris lost his lead on lap 39 as Hamilton pitted a lap before for softs. He went long in his box and had a 4.5 stop.
This critical moment was costly, but it was more on the tyre choice than the stop itself. The McLaren struggled on softs, using them instead of a brand new set of mediums.
Max Verstappen overhauled him in the final stint, meaning Norris finished P3.
“These tricky conditions are always, like, on a knife edge and you’re risking a lot. So, many things good, but a few too many let downs today.
“As a team, I don’t think we did quite the job we should have done, or good enough, but still lovely to be on the podium here in Silverstone.
“We threw it away in the final stop. So one lap, but also I don’t think it was a lap. I think even if I boxed on the perfect lap, our decision to go on to the softs was the wrong one.
“I think Lewis [Hamilton] still would have won no matter what. So two calls from our side cost us everything today. So, especially here, pretty disappointing.
“We still had a weekend where we’ve clearly been the quickest. We’ve always been there or thereabouts, but never the car, and yeah, I think we need to keep working as a team.
“I need to keep working on my own stuff. And just try and put it together because there are still so many positives. There are so many good things and so many things in place. But frustrating when a few times this season we’ve thrown away something that should have been ours.”
Despite the downsides, Norris talks about the multiple positives of the weekend and that the McLaren will bounce back stronger to the top step once again, vowing to try and get his first British GP victory next year.
“I’m not making the right decisions, you know. At the same time, I blame myself today for not making some of the right decisions. I hate it. I hate ending in this position and forever having excuses for not doing a good enough job.
“But I’m so happy. I’m still going to enjoy it. I think we still did so many things right. So many positives. But especially here in Silverstone, the one place I would love everything to go perfectly, it didn’t today. But I’m good. We’ll come back stronger next year and try again.”
