Lando Norris Blames Dollar Worth of Garbage for Losing the Spanish GP

Lando Norris was disappointed with his Spanish GP result, despite finishing second. At the start of last year, not many would have predicted this but the F1 gods have heard the fans, and now there are three, maybe even four teams competing for the World Championship. Norris’ team McLaren is one of them but at the Spanish GP, he wasn’t happy with how a $1 piece of garbage derailed his plans.

“That’s why I had a bad start,” said Norris in the post-race debrief. “Someone left a calippo.” While Norris was speaking about the same, the cameras focused on the wrapper of the ice popsicle – which costs $1 – on the track. It is what led to him getting a slow start off the line.

Norris started the Spanish GP from the pole position after beating Max Verstappen’s provisional lap time by two-hundredths of a second in Qualifying. As such, the hopes were high and all Norris needed to do to put himself at an advantage was hold on to P1 after the first corner.

Unfortunately, Norris got off to a poor start, allowing Verstappen to get the better of him. While the two dueled, Mercedes’ George Russell, who started from P4, saw clear air in front of him and took the lead of the race, dropping Norris down to P3.

Norris arguably had the fastest car on the grid and fought his way up after an overcut strategy made him lose valuable time. But it wasn’t enough. He could muster only a P2 finish, two seconds behind Verstappen.

Going by his post-race comments, however, had someone not left the $1 calippo on the track, Norris could have won the race.

“I shall only be happy with first”: Lando Norris aims high despite the Spanish GP’s heartbreak

Norris lost two places in the opening two corners of the Spanish GP. Still, he had only one goal in mind – win the Grand Prix. He suggested that he was going for a victory after the first stint which is why he went for the overcut. Unfortunately, he didn’t succeed in his attempt and remains adamant that he won’t be satisfied with a P2 finish.

“We’re close. We’re almost winning more races again. I’m now very disappointed with the second place and I shall only be happy with a first”, said Norris. 

The Bristol-born driver is now the closest rival to Verstappen in the championship. He is in P2, 69 points behind the Red Bull driver. In terms of performance too, McLaren seems to have matched the Milton-Keynes-based outfit. However, Verstappen is still coming out on top because he makes fewer mistakes, as he pointed out after the race in Spain. 

For Norris or others to mount up a Title charge, that is the first area they have to focus on.