'Fed up' Norris tired of making excuses following British Grand Prix error

By Sports Desk July 07, 2024

Lando Norris said he is "fed up" of making excuses despite claiming a seventh podium finish of the season at the British Grand Prix on Sunday. 

Norris started and finished the race in third place as Lewis Hamilton claimed a record-extending ninth win at Silverstone ahead of Max Verstappen in second. 

But a combination of poor tyre strategy and a slow pit stop proved to be Norris' downfall, as he fell further behind Verstappen in the driver's championship. 

Having had the fastest car in recent weeks, the McLaren driver once again failed to make that advantage count and was disappointed with his performance. 

"I'm fed up with just saying I should have done better and I should have done this and I could have done that, or whatever," Norris said. "So I don't care if it takes time.

"I don't want it to take time. I should be doing it now. We should be winning now. I should be making better decisions than what I'm making.

"So, I'm just disappointed. When it's a win in Formula One, I'm not going to settle for something less when we should have achieved it."

Despite his obvious frustration, Norris remained gracious in defeat as he praised Hamilton on his first victory since the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix in 2021. 

Norris admitted the seven-time world champion's know-how on when to pit won the veteran the race and gave him the edge.

"That's just driver feel and driver knowledge of when to box, and Lewis did a better job than me on that side," Norris conceded.

Hamilton's victory saw him become the first driver in history to win in 16 different years in the competition. 

The Brit is now the 12th oldest driver to win in Formula 1 at 39 years and six months old, and set the record for the longest interval between first and last victory, both in terms of time (17 years and 27 days) and Grand Prix's (338) since Canada in 2007.

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    Lewis Hamilton said watching Ferrari and McLaren overhaul Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship has been "quite incredible" ahead of his move to the Italian team. 

    Red Bull appeared to be set for another dominant year on track after Max Verstappen won seven of the first 10 races, with team-mate Sergio Perez also securing four podiums. 

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    But going into the final three races of the season, Red Bull find themselves third in the constructors' championship, 44 points behind leaders McLaren and 13 adrift of Ferrari. 

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    Charles Leclerc, Hamilton's team-mate for the Scuderia next season, won in Austin to emerge victorious for the eighth time in the competition. 

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    "I'm very interested in my future, of course," said Hamilton. "And so, in that respect, keeping an eye, yeah. Watching everything that happens."

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    Verstappen surged to a terrific victory from 17th on the grid in Brazil, with Norris faltering after starting on pole.

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    The Brit refused to hit out at McLaren's strategy after the race, though, putting his struggles down to bad luck. 

    "I have faith in the team in what they are saying and they have trust in me," he told Sky Sports F1. 

     

    "It was just unlucky. I don't care about the hindsight side of things, that's luck for them, nothing more.

    "They got lucky on a rule that no one agrees with. Probably they agreed with it today but every driver has disagreed with it in the past.

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