Lando Norris was left in no doubt as to who was at fault for the first-lap incident that ruined his chances at the Miami Grand Prix.
Despite McLaren implementing new upgrades on the cars, it proved another woeful weekend in America for both Norris and Oscar Piastri, finishing 17th and 19th respectively. The writing had been on the wall during Saturday's qualifying session, with the two drivers eliminated in Q1.
And any hope that Norris in particular had of repairing the damage early on in the Grand Prix were scuppered before he'd even finished the first lap. The 23-year-old was clipped from behind on Turn 1 by AlphaTauri driver Nyck de Vries, immediately dropping three places having started 16th.
It was the latest mistake from Dutchman De Vries, who has thus far struggled in his debut F1 season. And afterwards, Norris took a swipe at him, suggesting due to inexperience it wasn't the first time he'd made an error of that nature.
"He's done that a bit lately, needs to try braking a little bit earlier,” Norris said. "I guess frustrating, it was just a long race, not enough speed to battle anyone and way out of the points. It is tough but I did what I could."
But the 23-year-old also acknowledged that regardless of his first lap drama, McLaren are not currently a team capable of challenging the likes of Red Bull at the front of the grid. Indeed, a total of just 14 Constructors' points between him and Piastri in five Grand Prix races represents a paltry return.
"Just need to keep trying to do what we are doing," he conceded. "We didn't do anything wrong, we just have a car that isn't quick enough at the minute, so just keep working hard."
It wasn't just the incident with De Vries which Norris was left to reflect on though, after being involved in a worrying close call in the pit lane. Called in for a change of tyres, cameras on board of his McLaren showed a man was walking directly across the pit lane entrance just as Norris arrived at speed.
Whilst he did not need to swerve to avoid hitting him, the incident was raised serious questions about current pit lane protocols in the sport. An F1 spokesperson told Mirror Sport that the FIA is responsible for operating the pit lane during a Grand Prix race.
