Max Verstappen and Lando Norris were only separated by two seconds, yet in that gap of 20 tenths there are considerations and many regrets, especially at McLaren. Starting from the most coveted spot on the starting grid, i.e. from pole position, the ambition was clearly to convert that first position into a victory, but the scenarios changed after just a few seconds.
After a bad sprint when the lights went out, despite the attempt to close Verstappen, so much so that he pushed him onto the grass, Norris immediately lost first position to the Dutchman, with a race that immediately became uphill.
Added to this, however, was another element: by making good use of the various openings that had opened up around him, George Russell had also been able to move up the rankings, taking the lead with a surgical braking on the clean line in braking into turn one.
George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
“I had a bad start, it just happened that way. The car was very strong today, certainly the fastest, I just lost at the start. So I’m disappointed. There are many positive points, but also one negative that ruined everything. I’m aware of it. But we still managed to score a lot of points, I have to thank the team because the car was fantastic.”
In the space of about ten seconds, therefore, the British driver from McLaren slipped from first to third place, compromising the race. Verstappen’s skill was also that of being able to quickly overtake Russell, thus gaining those seconds that protected him in the first stint, especially keeping in mind that, on the contrary, Norris himself lost a lot of time behind the fellow countryman from Mercedes, failing to find the decisive manoeuvre.
At that point McLaren chose to follow an alternative strategy, extending the first stop, the one on new tyre, in order to obtain a more pronounced offset against its rivals in the final part of the race. However, even this expedient, for various reasons, did not work: although, in fact, in the final part of the race Norris was able to get closer to Verstappen by progressively closing the gap, the Dutchman kept the situation under control, adding a another victory on his personal list.
![Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38](https://cdn.motorsport.com/images/mgl/0ZRLzKR0/s1000/lando-norris-mclaren-mcl38.jpg)
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
It is no coincidence that Norris himself, before congratulating his Red Bull rivals and the three-time world champion, underlined just how much the mistake at the start changed the scenarios of the Grand Prix. At that point we saw the best duo in action: on the one hand Verstappen drove without making mistakes and making certain overtaking moves at the right time, while on the other the wall of the Milton Keynes team was able to read the race perfectly, reacting on a strategic level to any move of the opponents.
“We have to congratulate Red Bull and Verstappen, they did another great job. It’s a shame and we’re frustrated, but we’ll do better next time,” said Norris, who told the team in the team radio immediately after the race that he should have won the race.
Now the other two events of the triple header remain, namely Austria and Great Britain, two tracks where last year the MCL60 marked its rebirth thanks to substantial packages of technical innovations. The objective is to fix those details that did not allow us to achieve victory in the last four races: “Now we go to Austria and Silverstone, two of my favorite circuits in terms of performance, I always do very well. So I can’t wait to get back on track, we’re doing well. We must, or rather, I must, fix some things and we will be at the top.”
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