Lando Norris baffled by tire longevity during Max Verstappen duel at United States Grand Prix
Lando Norris acknowledged after the United States Grand Prix that he could scarcely believe how long he managed to keep Max Verstappen behind him in the closing stages of the race at Circuit of the Americas. F1 Maximaal.nl reported that the McLaren driver was running on significantly older hard tires while Verstappen charged on much fresher rubber following his second pit stop.
Despite expecting minimal defensive prospects against the Red Bull Racing machine, Norris kept the Dutchman at bay for multiple laps in free air. “I was actually so surprised,” Norris said regarding his unexpected pace on worn tires in the latter stint. “We had a good strategy and have created as many opportunities as possible under the given circumstances.”
Strategy gambles and safety car frustration in Austin
Norris entered the Grand Prix knowing McLaren lacked pure single-lap and race pace compared to their rivals. “We tried. We didn’t really have the speed, so we had to take a gamble,” he explained to international media outlets.
A timely neutralization could have fundamentally altered his afternoon. “If a VSC or safety car had come, we would have been in the fight for a good podium for a long time, maybe even P2. I was hoping for it, I was praying for it, but it didn’t come,” Norris stated.
Defending against a charging Red Bull and Ferrari
Max Verstappen overtook Lando Norris for position on lap 47 with a move down the inside of Turn 1 during the Grand Prix van de Verenigde Staten. Norris admitted that once Verstappen closed the gap and forced him to deploy energy reserves for defense, his survival odds vanished rapidly.
“As soon as he could attack and I had to use boost to defend, I knew he would get past quite easily,” Norris told international media. “And as soon as I hit traffic on old tires afterwards, it was pretty much game over.”
The situation worsened when Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc surged past in the closing laps. “Charles was very, very fast at the end,” Norris said, noting that Leclerc ultimately finished ahead of him on the road, dropping the Briton to fifth place at the checkered flag. Norris explained that he could not have taken Verstappen back if Leclerc had not interfered with the duel, adding: No, I was just driving on tires that were much too old.
On the hard tires, Norris felt his pace was quite good compared to his opponents, noting that they had a much harder time on the medium tires but still gave themselves a chance, which was the most important thing. He also reflected on the race by stating that he does not think they could have done much more, but noted that the degradation on the hard tires simply began to become too great, leaving him with no way to keep the charging cars behind.
Performance limitations of the McLaren MCL40
Following the race, Norris emphasized that while McLaren’s latest upgrade package functions as intended, it fails to fix structural weaknesses in slow-speed corners.
“You hope you put something on the car and it works magically and suddenly you’re much faster and fighting for the podium,” Norris said. “The parts deliver something, just not really in all the places where we need it.” He pointed specifically to slow-speed sections, admitting, “We’re nowhere near the level we need to be there.”
Norris risks lowest ranking for reigning champion since 1997
Formule1.nl noted that Norris holds sixth place in the Drivers’ Championship with 211 points following the Austin round. Statistical tracking by Formule1.nl indicates that should Norris finish the season in his current position, he would become the lowest-ranking reigning World Champion since Damon Hill placed twelfth in 1997 following his switch to Arrows.
McLaren sits fourth in the Constructors’ Championship on level terms with Red Bull, leaving the Woking-based squad under pressure to close development gaps before the next round on the Formula 1 calendar.
Qualifying struggles at Circuit of the Americas
The fifth-place finish followed a frustrating qualifying session where the reigning champion qualified eighth, sharing the fourth row with teammate Oscar Piastri. During Q3, Norris briefly held sixth place on his second run before that lap time was deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 19. Looking back at the difficult handling of the car, Norris remarked: That’s difficult, because I want to go for pole, and I have to tell myself that I have to settle for a P5, and I don’t want to do that.
Piastri echoed similar sentiments regarding the team’s competitiveness, stating: I haven’t been anywhere near as competitive as I wanted to be.
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