Lando Norris was pleased with his sixth-place finish in Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix, even though he felt he could have beaten George Russell to fifth had things gone more his way.
The McLaren F1 Team driver fell behind the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver in the first round of pit stops – only marginally – and despite a pit stop for fresh tyres and a much faster car in the final stages, Norris was unable to reclaim that position before the chequered flag fell.
Norris said racing in Monaco in the wet was ‘very tough’ to do, but he was delighted to continue his strong form, with the bonus point for fastest lap also going his way. However, he knows the team still has work to do to make another leap forward in pace to be in contention at the front.
“It was a good day for me,” said Norris. “We lost out to the Mercedes in the first pit-stops which was a close call, but you win some, you lose some, and in this case today we just lost out.
“I think the team did a really good job, I had a competitive car and it was an enjoyable race; it’s impossible to describe what it’s like to drive an F1 car around Monaco in the rain – it’s very tough.”
“We have a lot of things to review now as a team to try to do better for next time, but we still got some decent points and it was nice to get the fastest lap towards the end as well, so I’m satisfied with the weekend. I look forward to the next race in Baku.”
“We ultimately just weren’t quick enough this weekend” – Daniel Ricciardo
Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo had a less successful day, with his Monaco Grand Prix being hampered from the beginning having been out of position on the grid following a Q2 elimination on Saturday.
Ricciardo, who has only once finish inside the points in the opening seven races of the season (although he did also score points in the Sprint race at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari), was caught up in traffic for much of the day and ended thirteenth, just one place higher than where he started.
The Australian knew it was going to be tough to challenge for points from that far back on the grid, but he did not feel he had the pace in the car to do anything different around a circuit he has previously had a lot of success at.
“We knew today was going to be tough, obviously being Monaco, results are heavily based on qualifying so yesterday really shaped the weekend,” said Ricciardo.
“I think when we saw the rain come that was quite a surprise, just how quickly and heavy it came. We thought maybe there was some opportunity there – but yeah, obviously everyone kind of ended up filling into similar strategies.
“In any case, we ultimately just weren’t quick enough this weekend. So not much more to say.
“It was cool having a full crowd back. The atmosphere here was fun. I would have loved to have put a bit more of a show on- but that wraps up the weekend.”
