Norris downplays 'blip' in Qatar: 'We shouldn't have done what we did'

Lando Norris says his fourth place in the Qatar Grand Prix weekend was just a blip after a strong run of top-three finishes ended and led to a title decider.

McLaren made the wrong call under an early safety car by leaving both drivers out on track while the rest of the field pitted to save time, and championship rival Max Verstappen went on to win the race. That cut Norris’ lead to 12 points, but with his title chances still in his own hands, Norris is philosophical about his performance.

"The car was good, Oscar (Piastri, teammate) finished second and was very quick,” Norris said. “Nothing to complain about, just strategy as the second car is always a bit worse and had me over. It wasn't even the fact we were the second car, we shouldn't have done what we did. Simple as that.

“Nothing I can do about it. Obviously not our greatest day, not our greatest weekend. But I don’t know if anyone saw the run of results I had before that, were great. So I put myself in this position. I’m still happy.

“It wasn’t our finest day, it wasn’t my finest weekend in terms of driving and putting things together. But that’s life. Everyone has bad weekends. I take it on the chin, we’ll take it on the chin, and we’ll see what we can do next weekend.”

Norris acknowledged McLaren’s error during the safety car phase came with consideration for his own potential loss of race time, and says he couldn’t simply overrule the decision and pit.

“Probably [should have followed Verstappen into the pits], but both of us should have done," he said. "I would have been had over either way, because we would have double stacked, and potentially I would have lost time. A bit of time, maybe, I wouldn’t have lost a position I don’t think.

“But something we’ll go and talk about and review. I also have to have faith the team is making the right call, and that’s what I had to do.”