Norris ‘left the door open like an amateur’ in Sprint battle
A frustrated Lando Norris was none too pleased with himself after Saturday’s Sprint event, the McLaren driver believing that an “amateur” error had cost him a potential lead battle with race winner Max Verstappen.
Norris was in attack mode at the outset of the 24-lap short from event, putting pressure on Verstappen's Red Bull early on.
The Briton even managed to audaciously overtake the championship leader at Turn 3 on lap 5. However, the daring maneuver backfired spectacularly.
At the next corner, Verstappen indulged in an equally bold lunge to reclaim the lead, a move that forced Norris wide which killed his momentum and allowed his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri to breeze by to seize the runner-up spot.
"I did something pretty stupid and silly which was not very smart of me," Norris told the media after the race.
"Once the tyres get too hot it's difficult to do much so I had to make the most of my opportunity. Then I messed it up and left the door open like an amateur.
"Some things to improve, but we're there and we can definitely give them a fight tomorrow."
Norris reckoned that McLaren had maxed out its potential in the 30-minute race, suggesting there was little more Piastri and himself could have done to recapture the top spot.
"I don't think so, honestly," he stated. "We're there to race and it was too difficult to get past. The pace was good but I don't think we had the pace to go with Max.
"I think he was that little bit too quick for us. But tomorrow is another [opportunity] and I'll try again."
Overall, the 24-year-old highlighted the solid haul of points delivered to team papaya.
"The pace of the car was very strong to the end of the race, and I had a good battle trying to get past Oscar [Piastri], but I just didn't have enough speed with how much you lose in the middle sector with the dirty air,” he concluded.
“So it was a good race, a good load of points for us as McLaren, and a good job by the team."
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