Norris: We should have won, but we missed our chance

Lando Norris is convinced that he and his team missed the race in Canada because he did not immediately go to the pits after the safety car appeared on the track – unlike his rivals.

Q: You showed good pace throughout the race. Are you angry that you couldn’t win the race?

Lando Norris: Yes. We should have won the race today, but we didn’t and that’s disappointing. We had the pace, although towards the end of the race we probably weren’t that fast on the dry track. But it turned out that this is not so important.

In general, everything is simple: today we should have won, but we didn’t do so well. I don’t think we did a good enough job as a team because we didn’t pit when we should have to avoid getting stuck behind the safety car. I don’t think it’s worth talking about bad luck, because in my opinion the situation was not the same as in Miami.

We just made the wrong decision. The responsibility lies with me and the team, and this still needs to be discussed. But today we missed the win. I think we have already reached the level where we are not satisfied with second place and we have to aim for victories. However, the race was difficult and everything could have been much worse, so 2nd place is still a good result.

Q: What are you more angry about: being unlucky when the safety car first came onto the track, or being stuck on intermediate tires for too long?

Lando Norris: No, staying on intermediate tires actually helped me because a later pit stop kept me ahead of George Russell. Only later did I not drive optimally, although on dry asphalt, even on hard tires, he was clearly faster than us.

So no, we acted correctly in this regard. As for the safety car, it’s not that it came onto the track at a bad time for us: I had enough time to enter the pit lane, but we didn’t. It was a mistake by the team.

Question: Yet the McLaren car is once again capable of excellent speed: are you counting on success in Barcelona?

Lando Norris: Yes. Now I’m looking forward to racing at all the tracks because it seems like we’re doing well everywhere. But it will also be interesting to follow Mercedes’ progress as they have certainly improved. This weekend they were the fastest.

The positive thing is that we are ahead of them, and if you manage to stay ahead of a faster car, that’s always fun. And if they are fast in the coming stages, if they intervene in the dispute for victories in which Ferrari, Red Bull and our team participate, then our lives will become even more interesting. Although it will be more difficult and stressful, fans will see more spectacular races.

Q: When you switched to slicks and left the pits at the end of the race, there was a moment where your car started to spin, but you did a great job and avoided a skid. But was there any hope that you could still hold the top position? Or did you understand that Max Verstappen would be ahead of you anyway?
Lando Norris: To properly warm up these tires, you need to drive two laps. When a race follows this scenario, the tactic of a later pit stop always works, as cold slicks do not work as effectively as worn intermediate tires at the end of the segment.

Overall I didn’t lose anything when the car started to slide, and the track was still too wet for slicks. But we have to start with the fact that we were too far behind Max. I probably started attacking the intermediate tires too late in the second stint.

That’s why we stayed on the track, because at the end of that segment I was going really fast, but when I accelerated it was apparently already too late. Maybe I could have overtaken George a few more laps before the pit stop and closed the gap with Max – then the chances of staying ahead of him through tactics would have been greater. But we have not abused this. However, I still think we made the right decision in that situation.