Lando Norris left Brazil with mixed feelings on Sunday, happy for McLaren’s podium finish with Carlos Sainz but unsatisfied with his own performance which he felt had been undermined by a slow middle stint on the hard tyre.
Sainz’ outstanding dash from last to third using a two-stop soft-to-medium tyre strategy was one of the talking points of yesterday’s race along with McLaren return to the top-three for the first time since 2014.
But Norris might have well finished hot on the heels of his teammate if he’d followed a similar game plan as the Spaniard.
The 20-year-old enjoyed a feisty opening stint, battling in the thick of the midfield before moving up the ranks and comfortably into the top ten.
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Sainz celebrates maiden podium, cleared of DRS breach
But a switch to the hard compound on lap 28 would prove to be a setback for the young Brit who suddenly found himself with “zero pace”.
“As a team we got a lot of points which was our aim, especially for Carlos, going from last to fourth, a pretty good job by him,” Norris said.
“I know it was a good race, some very good parts of it, some positives and some negatives, the biggest one being the hard tyre stint in the middle. I just had zero pace.”
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