‘I should have won!’: Lando Norris fumes after blowing Spain F1 chance
McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris says he should have won the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday but admitted he lost the race at the beginning.
Having set an astonishing pole position lap on Saturday, Norris and eventual race winner Max Verstappen of Red Bull were swamped at the start by Mercedes racer George Russell.
Verstappen then passed Norris on the second lap and controlled the key parts of the race to take home his seventh win of the season.
Norris picked up his fifth podium in six races to move second in the Driver Standings for the first time in his career, with Lewis Hamilton third in what was his first podium since Mexico last autumn.
Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completed the top five in Spain, which is hosting the first of a triple-header across three weeks.
“I should have won. I got a bad start,” Norris said. “The car was incredible today, we were the quickest. I am disappointed, there was one negative, but apart from that we got a good amount of points.
“I don’t know what I did wrong [at the start] but well done to Red Bull but a shame we lost it.
“Austria and Silverstone are two of my favourite tracks. We are on a roll and I just need to tidy up a few bits.”
Winner Verstappen said: “What made the race was the beginning. After that we had to drive defensively. Lando [Norris] and McLaren were very quick today. We did everything well, we had an aggressive strategy but it played out in the end.”
Seven-time F1 champion Hamilton added: It has been a good weekend, a solid weekend. Like Lando, I got a bad start and lost ground so it was a battle to get back to [third]. With a better start we could have held onto the guys ahead, we wouldn’t have been as far behind.”