F1 | Norris: “I didn’t make the right decisions, I have no excuses”

While smiles can be seen on the first two steps of the podium, it is difficult to hide the disappointment and regret of Lando Norris, who started third and arrived in the same position. However, in the 52 laps that separated the turning off of the lights from the checkered flag there were mistakes, wrong strategic choices and regrets that are difficult to digest.

Already at the start, in fact, the British driver had lost the position to Max Verstappen in turn three, thus finishing in fourth position. The progressive arrival of the first drops of rain, however, gave life to his race, with a pace unmatchable for the other top teams, which led him to take the lead of the race after twenty laps.

A few laps that changed everything, especially because there was great uncertainty about what the forecast was for the following laps, which continued to change from lap to lap, postponing the moment when the rain of greatest intensity would arrive. If Verstappen and Carlos Sainz found the right moment to stop, the advantage previously accumulated by Norris, as well as the fact that the British driver had priority on the stop over Oscar Piastri who in the meantime had moved to less than half a second, allowed the number 4 to come out in front of everyone again after the pit to fit the intermediate.

After a well-managed first part of the stint, when the track started to dry, Hamilton started to close behind him, making the move to anticipate the switch to slicks, a scenario that then completely changed the fate of the Grand Prix. At that point McLaren also reacted, albeit too late, also making the wrong choice of tyre.

In the previous laps, there had been a long radio conversation with Norris about which compound to choose when the track would dry, given that the switch to slicks was a given before the end of the race given the improved conditions. McLaren itself had remarked that having another set of mediums, compounds that Red Bull and Mercedes did not have, could have made the difference.

Regardless of when the pit stop was made, the choice of tyre was also wrong. The decision to go for the soft was somewhat shared: on the in-lap the British driver was asked which driver he wanted to cover, Hamilton, thus opting for the softer compound, or Verstappen, choosing the medium. Lando’s choice was to cover Hamilton, which is why in the end McLaren was also convinced to fit the soft, also thanks to the times the drivers were recording at that moment on that compound in the outlaps.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

However, when there is a crossover situation between the inter and the slick, you have to evaluate whether it is worth fitting the soft, especially on tracks where it is easy to generate graining, just like at Silverstone. In the end the choice of the soft did not pay off and Norris was overtaken by Verstappen, with Red Bull who instead had followed this reasoning by opting for the hard.

“Congratulations to Lewis, he took that crucial decision better in the end, so hats off to him and Mercedes. They deserve it. It was tough, it was enjoyable, it was fun – fighting with these guys in these difficult conditions is always difficult and there is a lot of risk,” said Norris.

“We did a lot of good things, but there were also a few disappointments today. As a team, I don’t think we did the job we should have done or that we were good enough. It’s still nice to be on the podium here at Silverstone.”

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Beyond the team’s responsibilities, Norris also stressed that he is aware that he did not make the right decisions today that would have given him the opportunity to score a victory that, on the contrary, seemed within reach.

“I’m not making the right decisions, but at the same time I beat myself up today for not making some of the right decisions. I hate that. I hate that I end up in this position and having to make excuses for not doing a good enough job,” said a clearly disappointed Norris.

“But I’m still happy. I still want to enjoy it. We did a lot of things right, there are a lot of positives. But especially here at Silverstone, we were in a place where I would like everything to be perfect. Today it didn’t go that way, but that’s okay: we’ll come back stronger next year and try again.”