Lando Norris was left ruing the one that got away, after a poor start cost him a chance of victory at the Spanish Grand Prix in what he described as “the quickest car” on the grid.
The general consensus in the Formula One paddock was that Barcelona would be a two-horse race between McLaren’s Norris and Max Verstappen, after the Briton eclipsed his Red Bull rival by 0.02sec to take pole position. And so it proved, despite George Russell having a stunning start to push his countryman down into third place.
It prompted Norris and his team to shake up their race strategy, staying out longer than Verstappen but coming up a few seconds short at the chequered flag.
“I should have done better today,” was Norris’s own assessment. “We should have got some points back on Max.
“Potentially, there was a chance to beat him in Canada. Two races I have been second and he has won. We cannot afford to let him run away with it.
“We have what it takes, it’s just about putting it all together. Today, we were the quickest car. Fact, so the team deserved it. From start to finish, we were the quickest.”
