Lando Norris said he felt George Russell deserved race
victory at Interlagos on Sunday, given how he drove in wet conditions early on.
Russell got the jump on Norris off the line to lead into
Turn 1 on the first lap, and held the McLaren driver at bay until they both
pitted – with both drivers falling behind the eventual top three of Max
Verstappen, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly when they had a ‘free’ pit stop under
red flag conditions, having not stopped while racing was underway.
Lando Norris: George Russell ‘deserved it more than
anyone else’ at Interlagos
Norris was
magnanimous in defeat when he admitted there was “not a lot more I could do” on
track on Sunday, with the McLaren driver eventually crossing the line sixth.
Verstappen’s victory came after he had started 17th on
the grid, benefitting from the timing of the red flag period but also having
made his way up the field with a number of overtakes in the early stages of the
race.
Russell was the one to lead much of the first half of the
race, and Norris was left looking at the rear wing of the Mercedes for much of
the afternoon in Brazil.
Given the way the afternoon panned out, the McLaren
driver said admitted the pace of the Red Bull and Mercedes was something that
was too much on the day.
“It’s been an up and down weekend, for sure. Not a lot more
I could do,” Norris told reporters after the race.
“I’m sure George probably feels like he won the race today,
he deserved it more than anyone else. I probably finished third realistically.
“So it’s tough, Max probably would have come through anyway
and probably beaten us, but just unlucky for us, nothing more than that.
“I made a couple of mistakes, which I own up to and cost me a couple of positions in the end.”
.webp)
