F1 in a “bad position” at Silverstone with Pirelli tyres - Norris

Paul Macdonald
Sunday 2 August 2020 16:13 - Updated: 17:13

Lando Norris believes that F1 is "in a bad position" with Pirelli tyres at Silverstone, after a British Grand Prix in which three of the top five drivers suffered punctures in the closing stages of the race.

Valtteri Bottas was first, the front left of his Mercedes blowing out with three laps remaining and ultimately seeing him finish out of the points, while team-mate Lewis Hamilton was fortunate to reach the chequered flag after a similar issue on the final lap.

Norris' team-mate Carlos Sainz also missed out on a points finish after his tyre punctured, too, and speaking after the race Norris said that the tyres needed constant management throughout - something which is a real problem.

He said: "It is even on lap one, you can't push as much as you want. You can't just push into an understeer. As soon as you feel an understeer you just back out of it.

"If you use that understeer on lap one, you get graining on the tyre. Lap four, lap five, it is game over. You're just in this bad position where you can't race as much as you want and you end up having a problem like a lot of people have today where the front tyre just pops off.

"Silverstone and the front left tyre are not friends, never have been. But nowadays in F1 with the loads that we put into the front left, it just makes for tough races."

As for McLaren's performance in general, Norris felt that the team could have done a little more, adding: "It wasn't perfect but I don't think it was a bad race from us.

"I am happy with P5, I am not taking that away but of course, as a team, we could have achieved better today."

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