McLaren Racing Formula One Team’s Lando Norris says that he believes that the Woking-based outfit is unlikely to win a race in the final four races of the season after he missed out on his first Grand Prix win in Austin, Texas.
Norris had a fantastic start to the U.S Grand Prix at the Circuit Of The Americas on Sunday after taking the lead of the race from second on the grid going into Turn 1.
The Englishmen led the majority of the 56-lap race but fell back to third in the closing stages of the race.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1HD following the race, Norris said that he feels the team has missed the opportunity to win a race this season and that this will be the aim for the 2024 Formula One season.
Speaking following the action, Norris said:
“It was great to be leading the race at the start. I could control the race a lot but it just wasn’t enough today. However, I’m happy, it was a good race from my side. We knew what was going to be difficult today, which was the degradation, but the pace over the first ten laps of every stint was strong. We’re getting there. We’re making progress every weekend, just a few more steps needed. To finish on the podium here was better than we were expecting coming into the weekend. So overall, very happy.
In contrast to Norris, Oscar Piastri had a disappointing race as he was forced to retire from the race.
“It’s a shame to have had to retire the car after only 10 laps. We had a good start and made up a few places but had a water leak that unfortunately ended our race. It’s not been the easiest weekend, but there’s been a lot of learnings. We took a step forward from yesterday and did improve but not to the level I want to be at. These are character building weekends that are very important in my first season, so we’ll take from it what we can and bounce back in Mexico next week.”
Next up is the Mexican Grand Prix next weekend.
Speaking following the action, Andrea Stella, Team Principal of McLaren F1 said:
Another strong result for McLaren, which makes it four podiums in a row. It came in a race where we tried to go for the victory. We pushed hard with Lando and potentially paid a price in terms of consistency in the stints, but this doesn’t change the final result. It’s encouraging to be competitive in a track that we didn’t expect to suit our package.
“It’s a real shame what happened on Oscar’s side, because we could have finished with really strong points. Unfortunately, his race ended after making contact on Lap 1, damaging the cooling system and causing the engine to overheat. Before that he’d made great progress through the field. Up to that point, despite damage to the car, the pace today was much better, so we are pleased with the improvement we have been able to make on Oscar’s side and we will bounce back in Mexico.”