Frustrated Lando Norris says he only has himself to blame after letting British Grand Prix victory slip through his hands as he laments 'bad decisions'
- Lando Norris was leading the British Grand Prix with 14 laps remaining
- The McLaren driver pitted too late and allowed Lewis Hamilton to win the race
- It was the latest in a series of near misses this season for the British driver
Lando Norris has admitted that he only had himself to blame after an error-strewn performance saw a home victory slip through his fingers.
The McLaren driver looked on course for only the second win of his career after holding the lead at the British Grand Prix with just 14 laps to go.
But Norris threw away victory in tame fashion after pitting later than his rivals.
The stop itself was a messy one too, with Norris overshooting his pit box and all but handing victory to Lewis Hamilton.
It is the latest in a series of near misses for Norris, who could and maybe should have claimed victory in Canada, where McLaren’s race management was poor and Norris was caught out by the safety car, and in Spain, where he lost two places on the opening lap and gave himself a mountain to climb.
Lando Norris has admitted that he only had himself to blame after the British Grand Prix
A late pit stop proved costly with Norris overshooting his pit box to hand victory to Hamilton
Some argue Norris could have done more to avoid a race-ending collision with Verstappen in Austria last weekend just when he looked set to overtake his rival and win the race.
Instead, he is left to think about what could have been. Had he taken those opportunities then the gap to Verstappen in the standings would be a lot less than the 84 points it currently stands at.
‘I’m not making the right decisions,’ said Norris. ‘I blame myself today for not making some of the right decisions but I hate ending in this position and having excuses for not doing a good enough job.
‘I’m fed up of saying I should have done better, I should have done this or that.
‘I don’t care if it takes time, I don’t want it to take time. I’m just disappointed. It’s a win in Formula One and I’m not going to settle for something less when we should have achieved it.’
The McLaren man, 24, had started the race, during which the conditions swung viciously from sunshine to showers, strongly.
Norris pounced on mistakes by Mercedes’ Hamilton and George Russell, winner last time out in Spielberg but forced to retire here with a technical issue, as the rain began to fall at Silverstone.
But there was to be one final throw of the dice from his closest challengers, Verstappen and Hamilton. They reaped the rewards of switching tyres a lap earlier than Norris.
Norris blamed himself for missing out on victory, admitting he let the win slip through his hands
It was a poor call from both driver and team and the blow was only exacerbated by Norris’ clumsy driving, which led to an excruciatingly slow 4.5second pitstop.
The damage was irreversible. To make matters worse, Verstappen was able to pass Norris in the closing stages to claim second and extend his advantage over the Brit in the championship standings.
‘A lap too late is completely on me,’ conceded Norris. ‘It’s just driver feel and driver knowledge of when to box and Lewis did a better job than me on that side.
‘Should we have won the race today? Yes. Did we? No. I’m not going to be happy with third place, I lost more points to Max. I’m only going to be satisfied with the end result and I’m not.’
