Lando Norris defended McLaren’s tactics after he lost his chance to win yesterday’s Spanish Grand Prix during a Virtual Safety Car period.
The McLaren driver was leading from Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen when a VSC period began on lap 15. Norris passed the pit lane entrance before the VSC was triggered, but Antonelli and all the other drivers had the chance to pit before it ended.The VSC period ended before Norris returned to the pit lane entrance. McLaren summoned him in anyway, despite not having the opportunity to pit while the cars were lapping slowly. Norris’s misfortune was compounded by a problem with his right-front wheel which slowed his pit stop.
Other drivers such as Charles Leclerc opted not to pit at this time, extending their first stint. However they started the race on the hard compound, while Norris was on mediums. He believes pitting immediately after the VSC was the best choice for him.
“I had to come in at the end of the lap because it was the only chance,” Norris explained. “It was still effectively some pit loss, the fact that everyone’s on colder tyres [means] you’re still minimising the pit loss. The medium tyre was destroyed and the hard tyre was amazing.”
Norris said he was “just unfortunate” with the timing of the VSC period but he was able to close on Antonelli and Verstappen after they closed on Leclerc.
“The pace was very, very strong on the hard tyre. I know they were stuck [but] we caught up 13, 14 seconds or more, almost.
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“So there’s plenty of positives. A day full of positives, just one thing let it all down.”
Asked whether McLaren should have anticipated a VSC period would be triggered after Lance Stroll stopped in a run-off area, Norris said: “I need to speak to the pit wall. I’m just driving the car, I don’t know these things.
“So, I need to go speak to the team and see what else. But it’s not the team’s fault, it’s not my fault. Simple as that. We were just unlucky.”
2026 Spanish Grand Prix interactive data: lap charts, times and tyres