The recently concluded Spanish Grand Prix ended on an entertaining note, with defending world champion Max Verstappen crossing the checkered flag first, leaving behind Lando Norris in P2 and Lewis Hamilton in P3. While Max drove comfortably in Barcelona, the fight to P1 was much close and intense.
The margins had started to diminish in qualifying itself when Lando Norris bagged pole position. However, tables turned on Sunday as the McLaren driver fell short by inches. Naturally, one race winner Norris was gutted to have lost a golden opportunity to secure another win and took the blame after the race.
Lando Norris Thinks He Deserved To Win In Spain Over Max Verstappen
New life has been injected into the Formula 1 2024 season after Ferrari and McLaren closed down the gap to flying Red Bull. Since Carlos Sainz won in Australia, the drink-based outfit has been put under pressure by the rivals courtesy of timely upgrades. Lando Norris won his career first race after four years in Miami as McLaren realistically challenged Red Bull consistently after that race. In Barcelona as well, Norris had the upper hand over Max Verstappen as he won the pole position in the qualifying session. However, things went haywire at turn 1 as a simple mistake from Norris led to a loss of a realistic winning opportunity. The British driver finished a second below Max and bagged the fastest lap point.
Lando Norris admitted his mistake at turn 1 in the post-race interview to opine that he should have won the race as McLaren had the fastest car on the grid on Sunday. “I just lost it at the beginning. Disappointed but a lot of positives,” Norris said. While he is thankful to the team for providing a competitive car, one negative at turn 1 led to a disaster. Notably, Norris fairly had a decent start as he pushed Verstappen wide in an uncomfortable position. However, as both Lando and Max went wide, George Russell saw an opening and flew past the McLaren and Red Bull to claim an early lead into the race. While Russell’s lead lasted barely a lap, Norris failed to catch up to Verstappen and was forced to fight with Lewis Hamilton to sustain his P2 position.
Verstappen Admits Red Bull Lacked Pace In Barcelona
In a honest review, Max Verstappen admitted that Red Bull lacked pace against McLaren as he lost pole position to Lando Norris. He added that his car needed some fine tuning after facing engine and brake issues. However, the fine tuning alone wouldn’t work as the RB20 is lacking genuine pace required to stay ahead of competition.
Max Verstappen further added that after winning the race on Sunday, Red Bull is still not good enough. “These kinds of tracks, I was hoping, of course, to be ahead. But the other teams are catching up,” Max Verstappen said. He concluded that racing is getting harder with each race, and the team simply needs to add more performance to the car to stay ahead.
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