Lando Norris had arguably one of, if not the, best weekend of his Formula 1 career at the Russian Grand Prix. A dream first pole position, to leading and seemingly controlling the race until a handful of remaining laps were greeted with chaos due to the, very entertaining, weather.
There is not much more he could have done, apart from the obvious. If the conditions remained dry, Norris had that first win in the bag rather comfortably. Although the chasing Lewis Hamilton had sneaked into the DRS range of the McLaren, Norris was always able to extend the lead back to 1.3s on the exit of the final corner.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and many suddenly turn into experts when the race finished. Obviously, he should have pitted – it is easy to say now. However, he was in the worst position on track for this situation.
Although leading a Formula 1 race is surely great, when the weather decides to have a play, then being at the front is the worst by a mile. There is two options, you stay out and risk/brave it – which he did – and potentially get slated for losing a win or you risk a pit stop and get slated for throwing away a win or look like a hero. Experience helps in the matter.
There was not much winning for him in all honesty, the call had to be perfect.
Notice the repeat of the word ‘risk’. The risk for Hamilton was less, he had the advantage of responding to whatever Norris did, If the McLaren dived into the pits on the lap Hamilton did, the Mercedes man most likely would have stayed out.
It does not take away the performance that Norris was doing however, throughout the weekend he was arguably the top dog. Fate decided that Russia was not yet his moment, but did he do his reputation any harm?
Nope.
But, let’s not wrap him up in cotton wool. He had the race win in his palms and he did lose it. Although unfortunate, it was an error on his part and the team’s part.
Racing drivers have to take painful punches to learn the harshest lessons, and then they get back up from it – it is what makes the good drivers great. The final result will sting the British driver for some time, with him asking why did that have to happen. He’s human.
Human, but not exempt from mistakes. It was a gut wrenching moment for him and many others, an avoidable moment. But nobody quite has the right to say that. The stress levels are already ramped up to over 9000 when in the position Norris found himself in, he felt staying out was the better option and he stuck with his gut, that took balls alone. Was wrong mind you. Charles Leclerc made the same error, but slightly more catastrophically. Leclerc arguably had a better opportunity to pit then Norris, with the cars directly in front and behind doing so – whilst Verstappen was in the process of overtaking them after being seconds faster. A large error in this case.
Supposedly, you can ask how comes he felt staying out was correct, but the majority of the field decided to pit – considering the fact that the driver has the best perspective about current conditions. This is where the team’s error comes in.
They should have been ‘aggressive’, in a way, about calling him in. Tell him to pit, do not ponder the question. The intriguing part is, why did McLaren believe the rain was going to stay as it was, whereas Mercedes knew it was going to worsen. You’d think questions are being asked behind the scenes.
Formula 1 is a brutal world, absolutely. Sometimes drivers do not get out what they put in. As Norris has experienced in this case. Devastating for him and the team, but it happens. It is something they will learn from going forward. Despite being brutal, Formula 1 also has a funny way of returning a favour.
Drivers, no matter how loved or loathed, do not need to be wrapped up in cotton wool after a blow below the belt in a race. Mentally, they are remarkable. Their hunger just increases. Cuddling them will not help – leave them be. Chucking them back in the car is their best therapy.
The Motorsport Formula 