July 7th 2024.
In the aftermath of the British Grand Prix, Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton took some time to chat in the cooldown room. It was a bittersweet moment for Norris, who couldn't hide his frustration at narrowly missing out on a win to the legendary Sir Lewis Hamilton.
After almost three years without a Formula One victory, Hamilton finally claimed the top spot on the podium in a thrilling race at a wet Silverstone. But for a while, it seemed like another hometown hero would be the one celebrating: Norris, in his McLaren, overtook Hamilton for the lead on lap 20.
Norris held onto his position until lap 40, when he made a pit stop for dry tyres. However, Hamilton had stopped for fresh rubber on the previous lap and managed to undercut Norris. Though the gap between them was less than three seconds, McLaren had put Norris on soft tyres which tend to wear out quicker. As a result, Max Verstappen was able to overtake Norris in the closing stages, pushing the Brit down to third place.
After the race, Norris made it known that he felt his team had made a mistake with their strategy, but he also took responsibility for his own mistakes. He had driven through the pits, costing him valuable time, and team radio revealed that he had not opposed the decision to use soft tyres. "First of all, congrats to Lewis," Norris said. "He made that crucial decision at the end and did a better job. Hats off to him and Mercedes."
In the cooldown room, Hamilton and Norris discussed the race. Hamilton pointed out that Norris had stayed out on the track for one lap too long, to which a dejected Norris replied, "Tell me about it." Hamilton then asked about Norris' tyres, and Norris confirmed that he had two new medium tyres. "That's probably what really made a difference," Hamilton noted.
Norris, who had previously won his first F1 race in Miami, had lost more points to Verstappen in the title race. The gap between them was now 84 points at the halfway mark of the season. Speaking to Sky Sports later, Norris expressed his frustration, saying, "There were just two mistakes at the end. Choosing the wrong tyre and pitting too late. It's all based on driver feel, and I didn't get it right. Lewis did a better job today. He was on top of his game. We were terrible on the soft tyres; it's all about the balance on that tyre, and Mercedes handled it better."
Norris continued, "I'm tired of saying I should have done better. I don't care about what I should have done; we should have won today. I won't settle for anything less than that. We lost more points to Max, and I'm not happy about that." Clearly, Norris was disappointed with the outcome of the race, but he remained determined to bounce back and fight for the win in the next race.
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