F1 Emilia-Romagna GP: Lando Norris reveals UNUSUAL detail that cost him Imola victory

Lando Norris, McLaren, Imola, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix

Norris reveals UNUSUAL detail that cost him Imola victory

Lando Norris may need to shave after this admission

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Monday 20 May 2024 11:59 Updated: 19:49

Lando Norris has revealed a crucial detail that may have cost him a race victory at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

The British driver achieved a maiden win at the Miami GP, and seemed to be in the hunt for his second in Imola.

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Whilst Max Verstappen's victory seemed a formality at the end of the first lap having already broken out of DRS range, Norris mounted a late challenge to the champion in the closing stages of the race.

With around 15 laps until the finish, Verstappen started to struggle with his tyres, playing into the hands of British star Norris, who just missed out on the win.

Lando Norris celebrates a maiden victory in Miami

Norris was close to back-to-back wins in Imola

Could Norris have beat Verstappen in Imola?

As the laps dwindled down, so did the gap to Verstappen, and Norris was within a second on the final lap, however, it was not enough to catch him.

After the race, Norris revealed an unusual feature that his team boss suggested may have been the reason for his second-place finish.

"He (Zak Brown) said if I shaved off my beard - or half beard - it's eight tenths and eight tenths would have won me the race today so,” Norris joked to Sky Sports.

When asked about his push at the end, Norris explained how difficult it was to compete with Verstappen at the start of the race.

“I was pushing as much as I could…but pushing doesn’t mean you’re flat out destroying the tyres,” he continued.

“Pushing is keeping the tyres in a good window, trying to control things and I was doing that from start to finish.

“But we just struggled so much in the very beginning of the race, I lost ten seconds to Max in the first 15 laps.

“I just had so much rear tyre deg I couldn’t really control it and I wasn’t in a good position.

“So in the second half I had to do as much as I could to look after the tyres and change the balance - even Charles was pushing up to me putting me under pressure.

“But as soon as I had some clear track ahead of me I could settle down a little bit, get everything into a good window and I could push, everything started to come alive.

“Don’t ask me if I could have pushed a little bit earlier because I don’t think I necessarily could have done, it's such a difficult thing to judge.”

Max Verstappen Lando Norris Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix Miami GP DRS