Lando Norris came agonisingly close to a brilliant victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, but a virtual safety car (VSC) at the worst possible moment forced him to settle for third. The frustration was evident from McLaren CEO Zak Brown, who described the incident as a cruel double blow.
From qualifying, Norris had already shown tremendous potential. He secured pole position with a lap that McLaren team principal Andrea Stella called a 'masterpiece' at the Madring circuit. His speed was undeniable, and he led the opening 14 laps with ease.
However, an incident involving Aston Martin's Lance Stroll triggered a VSC. Unfortunately, Norris missed the pit stop window by just five seconds. Behind him, Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) and Max Verstappen (Red Bull) immediately dived into the pits. When Norris finally pitted, the VSC had ended, and he rejoined in fifth place behind leader Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Antonelli, Verstappen, and the second Mercedes of George Russell.
After Mercedes opted to pit Russell again, and Leclerc made a late stop, Norris moved up to third. Despite hounding Verstappen in the closing laps, the track's difficulty in overtaking left him unable to do more. Antonelli ultimately took the chequered flag.
Brown, speaking to Sky Sports F1, expressed his disappointment. "They were cruel today - twice! Lando was gone; the team did a great job. The VSC came out a couple of seconds after Lando had gone by, and then went away a couple of seconds before we pit. There's nothing we could have done," he said. "[But] Great to hear Lando's radio message, we just shrug it off. I think that was our race by 20-25 seconds."
Norris himself, in a post-race radio message, showed sportsmanship. "We take it on the chin. We were too quick. That's all it was. Very unlucky today, guys. We deserved the win quite easily, so a big thank you. I didn't think we were going to have a chance here. We should have won. All right, guys, keep it going. I'll keep delivering. Keep working hard. We can still win plenty more races this year."
Brown added that Norris was dominant at the Madring. "He was gone. Managing it, great; tyre wear was great. Yeah, he was in a league of his own. It's just unfortunate. He's got a trophy, but it's a P3, not a P1."
Baca Juga
Pembalap F1 mengkritik sirkuit Madrid setelah GP Spanyol yang minim overtaking. Kimi Antonelli menang, tapi balapan dianggap membosankan.
Max Verstappen ngamuk dipaksa Red Bull mengalah di GP Spanyol 2026, tapi bangkit finis P2 dan raih Driver of the Day. Simak drama radio dan analisisnya.
Toto Wolff membela George Russell dari kritik publik dan menegaskan tidak ada pilih kasih di Mercedes. Simak pernyataan lengkapnya di sini.
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