After a relatively disappointing finish to his season in Abu Dhabi, Lando Norris felt McLaren deserved more.
Lando Norris believes McLaren deserved “a lot more” from this season after a slow puncture robbed him a podium finish at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Norris, who finished seventh at the Yas Marina Circuit, lost fifth place in the Drivers’ Championship to Carlos Sainz, who finished third on Sunday.
In recent races, bad luck has been on Norris’ side, with a badly timed red flag in Saudi Arabia and punctures in Qatar and Abu Dhabi preventing him from finishing at the front of the pack.
“Of course, I’ve made a couple of mistakes, Brazil for me the big one, that cost me,” Norris told media, including RacingNews365.com, referring to his clash with Sainz on the run to Turn 1.
“But apart from there, we’ve just been very unlucky with the punctures, with problems and incidents, whatever.
“It just hasn’t been the second half of the season that we wanted. We deserved a lot more.
“I think the team have done a much better job than it looks like. I feel like I’ve done a much better job than what it looks like. We’ve just been unlucky, that’s all.”
Explaining his slow puncture
Prior to his puncture with 10 circuits to go, Norris was almost certain to finish in the top five in Abu Dhabi.
The Briton claims he has no idea what caused the puncture and that the team first refused to tell him what was wrong, despite the fact that he was able to figure it out due to the car’s feel.
“[I also had] some gearbox problems,” added Norris. “I wouldn’t say it really cost us anything, it cost me some time here and there, but didn’t cost me positions, thankfully.
“But the puncture did, so the puncture ruined it really. Especially after the Safety Car, we could have had a chance to at least fight Carlos, go for a P3 or a P4. There was still a good chance I could have finished fifth [in the championship] as a driver.
“Through no fault of mine or the team’s we lost out again, so it’s just more unlucky moments, things thrown away from us or taken away from us. I can’t get frustrated by it, I just have to deal with it.”
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