Disheartened Norris says 'Verstappen would have beaten us anyway' in Brazil
F1 News
While Max Verstappen could leave the Sao Paulo Grand Prix with a big smile on his face, it was the opposite from Lando Norris. Starting from pole position, the Briton finished in P6, and is summoned to the stewards for the 'aborted start incident'.
After Norris finished in sixth position, the Briton was not happy. His gap to Verstappen is now 62 points in the drivers' standings. "[It is] quite easy [to digest this result]. I did all I could today. That's all. Max won the race. Good on him. Well done. It doesn’t change anything," Norris said at Interlagos.
The Briton pitted when the VSC was deployed, and was jumped by his rival when Franco Colapinto crashed during a later Safety Car. That caused a red flag, that led to Norris getting jumped by Verstappen in the pit lane.
"The right time to box, yeah, it was the right thing, so no regrets, just unlucky. It's a silly rule that no one agrees with, but you'll always agree with it when it benefits? So, yeah, every driver said that they don't agree with it and they wanted it changed. It's just unfortunate. But it's the rule. You win some, you lose some, it benefited them today, so... well done to them."
He continued: "I mean, it's been an up and down weekend for sure. Not a lot more I could do. I'm sure George probably feels like he [could have] won the race today. He deserved it more than anyone else. I’d probably have finished third realistically, so it’s tough, Max probably would have come through anyway and probably beaten us, but... Yes, just unlucky for us."
Norris on mistakes
The Briton had another start to a Grand Prix where he could not lead after the first lap. "Yes, a bit of wheelspin. The left side looked a bit better than the right, so...," Norris commented.
During both Safety Car restarts, the Briton then lost three positions in total from originally standing in fourth positions after the first one, but he finished in P6 after Oscar Piastri let him through. "No, I just locked the rears on the restart that was all," he said about the second restart, when he went wide into Turn 1.
Moreover, he has to report to the stewards for beginning a second formation lap, after the start was aborted and the yellow lights were still on. "I'm not sure. I need to go see it with the team."
Want more Formula 1? Then follow GPblog on our various social media channels!