After a highly anticipated Grand Prix on Sunday, the world bared witness to the return of the seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton, returning to the podium’s top step. Claiming his 104th Grand Prix win in remarkable fashion. But one decision became the bane of losing the opportunity to win the British, not Lewis Hamilton. Another British driver, Lando Norris.
It was one decision and one call alone that cost Lando Norris the opportunity to score a victory around the Silverstone Circuit. But what was said decision? Let’s find out…
Norris Verses Verstappen
The start of the Grand Prix saw a titanic triple-threat showdown between the three British drivers on the grid. But that triple-threat encounter would be put on hold as Norris lost out to Max Verstappen on Lap 1. But hungry as ever, Lando made it his mission in the bid to overtake the Flying Dutchman. By the end of Lap 15, the MCL38 was four and a half tenths behind the RB20 and with the aid of DRS down the Hanger Straight, Norris took third place back. Much to the delight of the British fans.
Lap 16, the Papaya-coloured McLaren would set the fastest lap of the race. Just three seconds shy of the Mercedes drivers in front. Now the customer team would be on the chase to hunt down the supplying team.
Norris Verses Hamilton and Russell
It was not long until the first pocket of rain began and navigating the circuit would become more challenging for the drivers. As demonstrated by George Russell. At the end of sector 1, Hamilton closed the gap to Russell to three-tenths. But with the rain coming down, extreme caution would be the words for drivers to consider when overtaking. And it was not long until Hamilton got the better of his younger teammate. With no aid from DRS, Hamilton could only resort to his battery to overtake Russell down the Hanger Straight. An overtake that sends a wave of excitement to the fans watching.
On lap 19, Norris was two seconds behind the Mercedes pair but suddenly, both Mercedes drivers ran wide not making Abbey nor Farm. But safely returned to the circuit at Village. A mistake that saw Norris seize the opportunity to close on Russell. And by The Loop turn, Norris relinquished Russell of second place. The next target for Lando is Hamilton.
Straight into the action to start Lap 20 Lando does not hesitate to dispatch the seven-time world champion on the inside of Abbey to become the race leader. Now the next challenge for the Miami Grand Prix winner would be one that Mother Nature would create. The second pocket of rain. This time the rain would increase in intensity and duration.
Dry to Wet
Lap 27, the rain was getting worse and drivability was not seen as a challenge but as a means of survival. The line between dry and wet would change as we see all three British drivers pitted for Intermediate tyres. Which was the right call, as Norris’ teammate, Oscar Piastri, stayed out for one more lap. As turned out to be a mistake. A mistake that would see his 12-second lead by the start of Lap 28, diminish to only a second at the end of the lap. As Martin Brundle’s famous quote was aired by the former Formula 1 driver himself – “Be on the right tyre at the right time.”
For Lando, his stop from wet to dry became the perfect decision. However, as the rain shower passed the circuit and the sun rose, another decision would soon see the downfall of the McLaren charge.
Wet to Dry
By Lap 39, the line between wet and dry changed again, as slick tyres were the preferred option. And Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen dived into the pits for Dry tyres. Both prefer different choice of compound. As Lewis chose a used set of Soft tyres. While Max chose a brand new set of Hard tyres.
The ideology for both drivers was for 14 laps, Hamilton could use the pace of the Soft tyre to his advantage even though the used set had already done a few laps. At the same time, Verstappen could maximise the use of Hard tyres. With no tyre saving nor careful driving, utilise the potential of the Hard compound with no consequence as they were brand new.
The Decision that Cost Norris the Win
As like in Russia 2021, Lando’s decision became one that would cost him an opportunity to win the grand prix. As Lando came into the pit entry he stated:
“we need to box the soft is better… I need slick tyres”
His engineer, Will Joseph gave two options to Lando:
“Okay so we can choose a Medium [tyre] to cover people like Verstappen or we choose a Soft [tyre] to cover people like Hamilton.”
The choice was made and Norris chose a used set of Soft tyres. But the matter would only get more intense, as Norris failed to stop in his pit box by a few metres. A mistake that took 4.5 seconds from the Intermediates to the soft.
And to rub salt in the wounds as Norris traversed out the pit lane to see Lewis Hamilton snatch the lead of the Grand Prix on Lap 40. With tyres that are warmed up, Lewis started Lap 41 with a 2.7-second lead over Norris. But car number 4 would have more problems heading his way in the form of Raging Bull, that being Max Verstappen. Lap 41 the gap was 6.1 and by the end of Lap 48, the three-time world champion had caught up to Norris, as the gap was only 3 tenths.
With the aid of DRS, Verstappen made his move down the Hanger Straight and passed the British driver around the outside turning into Stowe. Powerless to make any effort, Norris had to accept the last place on the podium when crossing the finish line on Lap 52.
Norris – “Should we have won a race today? Yes? Did we? No”
After putting on a smile and receiving the third-place trophy on the podium in front of a British crowd, Norris made his thoughts abundantly clear in the post-race interviews:
“I’m just disappointed, it’s a win. It’s a win in Formula 1 and I’m not going to settle for something less when we should have achieved it” Norris to Sky Sports F1.
Norris would continue and state:
“Should we have won a race today? Yes? Did we? No. So I’m not going to be happy with another third place. I lost more points to Max, so I’m not going to be happy with that.”
However, his Team Principal, Andrea Stella had contrasting comments in regards to the decision Lando had made. To the choice of dry tyres. He believes the choice for switching tyres should be down to the team and not the driver.
The former Ferrari engineer stated to Sky Sports F1:
Is “the second call is that with Lando, we should have gone on medium tyres at the end rather than trying to match Lewis. I think it would have been safer to be competitive at the end of the race, and even if Lewis had been ahead after the stop, then I think we would have had our shot at the end of the race with more consistent tyres.”
So in the eyes of McLaren, this opportunity to win their home Grand Prix slipped away.
Overall
The second time an incident like this has happened, costing Lando Norris the win. The best-case scenario going forward for McLaren is to review its decision-making. Between the team or the driver as to who should have higher priority, should ultimately come down to which tyres are to be changed during the pit stops.
McLaren ambitions to win the British Grand Prix were dashed when Lando Norris chose a set of used Soft tyres according to McLaren. The best outcome would have been to put on a fresh set of Medium tyres. Without the consequence of degradation and to push to the end of the race. In the hope of chasing down Hamilton and covering off the charging Red Bull of Max Verstappen.
If you would like to learn more news about the world of Formula 1? Then why not check out “Lewis Hamilton Return to the Top Step of the Podium!” or “Uncovering The Secrets of the British Grand Prix”
Image Credit: Red Bull Content Pool
