Lando Norris said McLaren “should have won” the Canadian Grand Prix, but “didn’t do a good enough job as a team” in how they handled the first safety car phase in the race hit by rain.
The Briton ultimately finished Sunday’s rain-soaked race in second place behind Max Verstappen, but the 24-year-old believes he could and should have finished one position higher.
After qualifying third on the grid, Norris passed first Verstappen and then George Russell on consecutive laps to lead the Montreal race on lap 21 with his McLaren reveling in the intermediate tire conditions.
Such was Norris’ speed at this stage of the race that, once in the lead, he opened up an advantage of around 11 seconds in the space of four laps until lap 25, when Logan Sargeant crashed his Williams at turn five.
When race management made the decision to call the safety car shortly after, Norris was in the final corner of the track, which contains the pit entrance.
The McLaren continued on the track for another lap, but the gap to Verstappen and Russell meant their respective teams had enough time before reaching the pit entrance to decide whether to enter. While his rivals were in the pits, Norris lost track time after being picked up by the safety car and, although he returned to the pits the next time out, the 24-year-old reappeared on the track behind the Red Bull and Mercedes.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Lando Norris overtakes George Russell and Max Verstappen to take the lead at the Canadian Grand Prix
Talk to Sky Sports F1 immediately after the race, Norris said that although McLaren “didn’t have enough time to make the decision” to stop immediately, he admitted that “in reality we should have planned the decision in advance , and we didn’t do it.”
He was then more explicit about his views on what happened in the post-race press conference.
“We should have won the race today and we didn’t, it’s so frustrating,” Norris said. “We had the pace. Probably not in the dry at the end. Turns out it didn’t really matter.
“But yeah, we should have won today. It’s as simple as that. We didn’t do a good job, I think, good enough teamwork to box out when we should have and don’t get stuck behind the safety car. So I don’t think it’s a question of luck or bad luck.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris hilariously react to their battle outside the pits at the Canadian Grand Prix
Norris benefited from safety car timing when he won for the first time in F1 ahead of Verstappen at last month’s Miami GP, but the Briton said of the situation on Sunday: “I don’t think it’s the same as in Miami.” It was just a bad call.
“So it’s up to me and the team and it’s something we’ll discuss afterwards. We should have won today. I think we’re at a level now where we’re not happy with a second, as the goal is to win and we didn’t So it’s frustrating, but a tough race and still finishing second when it could always finish and could be worse. still a good result.
Formula 1 returns to Europe as the championship moves to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix. Watch every session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from June 21-23 live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month subscription – No contracts, cancel anytime
