‘I blame myself today’ – Norris rues ‘not making right decisions’ after missing out on Silverstone win

Lando Norris was left frustrated with “too many letdowns” in his race at the British Grand Prix, with the McLaren driver blaming himself for “not making some of the right decisions” after slipping from the lead to an end result of P3.

While the Mercedes pair of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton made a good start when the lights went out, Norris chased them down as the conditions started to change and eventually put himself into the lead, while team mate Oscar Piastri followed in second.

READ MORE: Hamilton beats Verstappen to first win since 2021 with record-breaking 9th British Grand Prix victory

When the field started to switch to intermediate tyres as the rain became heavier, Norris held onto P1 as Hamilton tried to stay on his tail behind.

But when the track later started to dry, Hamilton pitted one lap earlier than Norris for the soft compound and – after a slow stop from McLaren – the seven-time world champion became the new race leader.

From there Norris struggled with his soft tyres, enabling the Red Bull of Max Verstappen – running the hard compound – to catch up and take second place, leaving Norris to claim third.

Quizzed on his mixed emotions after the race, Norris commented: “First of all, congrats to Lewis. That crucial decision at the end, he just did a better job on, so hats off to him and Mercedes – they deserve it.

HIGHLIGHTS: Hamilton claims victory over Verstappen and Norris in wet/dry Silverstone classic

“It was tough. It was enjoyable, it was fun, battling these guys. These tricky conditions are always on a knife-edge, and you’re risking a lot. So many things good, but a few too many letdowns today.

"As a team, I don’t think we did quite the job we should have done, or good enough, but still lovely to be on the podium here.”

When it was then put to the Briton that he seems to be feeling ready to take a victory in front of his home fans – having also led the event for some laps in 2023 – he answered: “I don’t know. I’m not making the right decisions.

“At the same time I blame myself today for not making some of the right decisions. I hate it, I hate ending in this position and having excuses for not doing a good enough job. But I’m still happy, I’m still going to enjoy it.

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“I think we still did so many things right, so many positives. Especially here in Silverstone, the one place I would love for everything to go perfectly, it didn’t today. But I’m good, we’ll come back stronger next year and try again.”