Brawn points to McLaren: 'The team was largely responsible'

Norris is Driver of the Day

In his column on the official website of Formula One. Ross Brawn points out his Driver of the Day; Lando Norris. "Listening to him on the radio when the team talked to him, his composure was impressive. He has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years," wrote the F1 chief. The fans agreed with Brawn as the British driver was voted Driver of the Day with 33.9% of the votes. "Lando will be a stronger driver from this".

Brawn sympathised greatly with Norris. "We all felt his pain when he slid off the track. It was a tragedy." It reminded Brawn of his time at Ferrari. "I've also been in a situation like that, where you have to make a big strategic decision. I've won races by holding on, I've lost races by holding on. A good example is when Rubens Barrichello won the German Grand Prix in 2000 for Ferrari. We insisted he join and he said 'no way' - and he persisted and won the race."

McLaren responsible?

The decision to stay out when it started raining in Sochi came from Norris. "I understand why he was so insistent with his team, but you can ask if McLaren should have taken the lead and insisted he make a pit stop when he said he didn't want to?" According to Brawn, a driver doesn't always have the full picture. "In this case I would say McLaren are sixty per cent responsible, but it's so difficult because you don't want to give up the lead of the race."

The decision to stay outside ultimately proved the wrong one when it started raining even harder. "The feeling a driver or a team gets when they realise they've made the wrong decision and the lead is evaporating before their eyes is terrible. They have my sympathy, but that kind of drama is what makes F1 so fantastic."