Lando Norris saw an almost certain victory at the Spanish Grand Prix of Formula 1 slip away because of the moment a virtual safety car was deployed. The McLaren driver finished third after comfortably leading the first fourteen laps of the race.
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Norris had started from pole position in Madrid and was controlling the race when an incident involving Lance Stroll triggered the virtual safety car. When the Briton entered the pits to make his stop, the race restarted, and to make matters worse, McLaren had a problem changing the front right wheel on the Briton’s car, which caused him to lose even more time.
When Norris finally returned to the track, he was fifth, behind Charles Leclerc, Antonelli, Verstappen, and George Russell. Later, Russell made a second stop and Leclerc entered the pits, allowing Norris to advance to third position.
In the final laps, Norris pressured Verstappen but found it difficult to overtake on a circuit where battles for position proved especially challenging. Unable to pass the Red Bull Racing driver, he had to settle for third place, while Antonelli took the checkered flag in first.
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Assessing the situation, Norris said there was no way to avoid the damage caused by the virtual safety car moment: “There was nothing I could do. Congratulations to Kimi. Luck was not on our side. I fought to catch Max, but it was hard to overtake. He made no mistakes. It was a tough race, one that slipped away from us,” he told Sky Sports F1 right after the race.
Despite the frustration, the British driver highlighted that he believes in McLaren’s potential to achieve more victories this year: “Yesterday was quite phenomenal to get pole, and today I had a perfect race, but luck was not with me. More wins are possible, so let’s keep our heads up and keep pushing,” he added.
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