Norris had every chance to beat Verstappen, but got schooled

Lando Norris claims he could have won the Canadian GP Sunday, but it was clear that Max Verstappen was controlling the gap to Norris that last 15 laps and Norris was steadily falling behind. He was properly schooled, but now tries to blame the Safety Car timing.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Norris felt McLaren threw away a potential victory at the 2024 F1 Canadian Grand Prix.

Starting third on the grid, Norris found himself in contention for the win in Montreal and twice led Sunday’s wet and wild race, having overtaken both Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell on Intermediate tires, but on the dry tires Verstappen schooled him.

Norris lost the lead under the first Safety Car after staying out one lap longer on his intermediate tires compared to his rivals when the field switched onto slicks as the track started to dry.

By the time he pitted, the Briton ended up rejoining the track in third, behind Verstappen and Russell. A further pit stop for Russell under a second Safety Car promoted Norris up to second, where he would finish.

“We should have won today, simple as that. We didn’t do a good enough job as a team to box when we should have done and not get stuck behind the safety car,” Norris said.

“I don’t think it was a luck or unlucky kind of thing. I don’t think it was the same as Miami. This was just making a wrong call, so it’s on me and the team, and it’s something we’ll discuss after.

“We should have won today, we’re at the level now where we’re not satisfied with second, the target is to win, and we didn’t do that. So frustrating. But a tough race and to still end up in second when it could always be worse is still a good result.”