Norris F1 News: McLaren star does not hold back FRUSTRATION after Spanish Grand Prix

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Norris does not hold back FRUSTRATION after Spanish Grand Prix

The Brit was left visibly disappointed after losing the win in Barcelona

Tyler Rowlinson

Monday 24 June 2024 09:57 Updated: 11:35

Lando Norris did not hold back his frustrations after losing the race win at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Brit had claimed his second pole of his career on Saturday over Max Verstappen by just two hundredths of a second, with the 24-year-old looking to convert that into his second race win.

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But off the start, Norris lost positions to Verstappen and George Russell, as the latter passed both of them around the outside into the lead on the first corner.

Norris extended his first stint to try and build a gap after Verstappen came into the pits, but slow stops and struggling to get past the Mercedes proved costly for the McLaren.

Lando Norris took pole position in Barcelona

The British driver lost the race to Max Verstappen

Norris fumes after Spanish GP result

The Brit was able to close the gap down to just 2.2 seconds, but he ultimately ran out of laps to catch Verstappen as he claimed his seventh win of the season.

Speaking after the race on Sky Sports, Norris could not hide his disappointment with finishing second best.

“I need to review things,” he said abruptly.

“I need to go back and sit down and have a look.

“It really wasn’t like it was a bad start, it was like two metres. Max just got there and I couldn’t cover him and that was it. Also from George’s side, George has such a good slipstream. Even if you took me out of it, George still would have got ahead of Max, and that’s the crazy part of it all.

“I did what I could, it wasn’t the best start. I don’t think it was a bad start, but nowadays when it’s so close, one or two metres generally makes a difference whether you can win a race like today or I don’t win a race.

“A shame such a small margin cost us, but it was a good race apart from that.”

With this result, Norris remains the only driver on the grid to score points at every race so far in 2024 as he moves to second place in the drivers’ standings for the first time in his career.

However, the gap to Verstappen at the top has extended to 69 points, which the Brit was quick to point out.

Norris now sits second in the drivers' championship

Norris: I don't care what position I'm in

When Rachel Brookes mentioned he was now second in the championship, Norris responded: “But further behind first.

“I don’t care what position it is, it’s the gap to first which I care about and that was bigger today. I’m frustrated because I didn’t just lose a race to someone, but I just lost it to Max and he’s the leader of the championship.”

Norris was then asked if he believed McLaren had the quickest car over the weekend and if they could mount a challenge for the championship, having again displayed blistering pace.

“Today yes, yesterday no,” he said.

“Yesterday 100 per cent the Red Bull was quicker, I don’t care what people say. Today we were the quickest car. Fact. So, the team deserved it.

“I mean, if it’s like this every weekend, I need something more. I need Max to not finish second or do as good as he’s doing at the minute. But he’s doing a good job, I can't fault him."

He added: “Today we had the opportunity to win, whether or not we had the best package or we didn’t or whatever the questions are. Today we should have won the race and we didn’t and those are opportunities we can’t miss out on.”

Max Verstappen Mercedes FIA Lando Norris George Russell Spanish Grand Prix