Lando Norris believes his McLaren team made a "little tactical error" in Mexico as he was outpaced by Formula One teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
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Ricciardo switched from medium to soft tyres and had enough speed to not only jump to seventh place, but also avoid a 10-second penalty for contact with Yuki Tsunoda. In contrast, Lando Norris, who had stopped earlier, had joined several others in progressing from the medium to the hard, only to discover that it was underperforming. He finished tenth, 16.5 seconds behind Daniel Ricciardo on the road, after starting three places ahead of him. The Englishman’s race had already been hampered by a difficult first lap in which he was passed by Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon of Alpine, with whom McLaren is competing for fourth place in the world championship.
“[I lost] only two positions at the beginning, obviously, both to Alpines, which is the essential thing,” he explained when questioned about his start by Motorsport.com. “Just one off the line and then one around the first few turns, which is occasionally unlucky.” “So there’s nothing wrong with the way things are. I believe we did a good job on the remainder.” Norris stated unequivocally that he did not get to run the strategy he had planned to utilise, estimating that Ricciardo’s strategy was worth more than 30 seconds above his own. “We covered Yuki [Tsunoda] fairly early on, which meant I had to move onto the hard tyre,” he explained. As a result, I would not be able to do what I want. “Perhaps it was a mistake to do it.” But Daniel did what I wanted: he stayed out and then went onto the soft, which was about 30-40 seconds faster in terms of racing time.
Norris is apprehensive about the team’s possible form in Brazil as the race for fourth in the constructors’ championship with Alpine continues. The Enstone team currently leads by seven points with two races remaining, and Norris is not optimistic about McLaren‘s chances in Brazil. “I’m pleased that we’re closing the gap, “He stated. “But we’re trying our hardest. So, at the end of the day, I believe we deserve what we’re getting. However, it implies that we will have to work incredibly hard to beat them in the following two races. “To be honest, I’m not sure what we’re going to do. With our automobile balance and other issues, as well as our challenges, I wouldn’t think Brazil is a good fit for us. “But I don’t think we’ve been the quickest car or quick enough in the last few races; we’ve just done a better job with strategy and reliability, such as today.” So, let us proceed to the chequered flag.”
