Devastated Lando Norris reacts to ‘throwing away’ British GP: ‘I blame myself’
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Lando Norris found it difficult to conceal his feelings of disappointment when a last-minute error caused him to lose the chance of winning at the British Grand Prix.
During an intense race at Silverstone, McLaren driver Norris found himself in the lead with 14 laps remaining as the top drivers made their final pit stops to switch to dry tires.
Norris made a pit stop one lap after the race winner, Lewis Hamilton. However, he overshot his pit box, causing a slow pit stop of 4.5 seconds. Once he got back on the track, Hamilton was two seconds ahead in the lead.
Norris, who narrowly missed out on a win last week due to a crash with Max Verstappen in Austria, ultimately came in third place behind Verstappen at Silverstone.
"That final choice at the conclusion was what really changed everything," a heartbroken Norris expressed afterward.
"It was challenging, enjoyable, difficult circumstances, it was very close, you're taking a big risk. There were a few disappointments."
"It's still great to be up on the podium. I take responsibility for my performance, I'm not making the best choices. I dislike finishing in this position and giving explanations... if there's one location where I want everything to go smoothly, it's right here."
Later in the top-three press conference, Norris emphasized that the timing of his pit stop played a crucial role in losing position to Hamilton, as well as the choice of tyre. He expressed his disappointment at missing out on another victory.
"I've been in that situation a bunch recently, I don't like admitting it again," he stated.
Many things were going smoothly until the very end. Despite having the option to pit earlier, choosing to switch to the soft tires turned out to be a mistake. We had a good chance, but unfortunately, we let it slip away in the last lap.
"Today we lost everything because of two mistakes we made. It's really disappointing, especially in this specific location."
After finishing behind Verstappen, Norris now falls behind the Red Bull driver by 84 points halfway through the season.
