Formula 1 Mexico City GP
Norris: Mexico F1 strategy "a mistake" relative to McLaren teammate Ricciardo
Lando Norris believes that his McLaren team made “a bit of mistake” on strategy in Mexico after he was outscored by Formula 1 teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Nov 2, 2022, 1:10 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Ricciardo went from medium to soft tyres and had sufficient pace to not only charge up to seventh place, but also negate a 10-second penalty for contact with Yuki Tsunoda.
In contrast Norris, who stopped earlier, joined several others in going from the medium to the hard, only to find it was lacking performance. He finished ninth, some 16.5 seconds behind Ricciardo on the road, having been three places ahead of him early on.
The Englishman’s race had already been compromised by a difficult first lap in which he was passed by Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon of Alpine, the team that McLaren is battling for fourth position in the world championship,.
“[I lost] just two places in the beginning, obviously, both to Alpines, which is the main thing,” he explained when asked by Motorsport.com about his start. “Just one off the line and then one around the first few corners, which is just a bit unlucky sometimes.
“So nothing too bad, just the way it is. The rest I think, we did a reasonable job.”
Norris made it clear that he did not get to run the strategy that he had hoped to use, estimating that Ricciardo's strategy was worth over 30 seconds over his own.
He added: “We covered Yuki [Tsunoda] very early on, which meant I had to go onto the hard tyre. So I would not really what I wanted to do.
“So maybe a bit of a mistake there to do that. But Daniel did what I wanted to do, which was to stay out and then go onto the soft, which was like, 30-40 seconds quicker in terms of race time.
“I think we did the best we could. Still managed to get past Bottas bought us with a few laps to go. So that one extra point always helps."
Regarding the general lack of grip, he said: "I mean, that's just what we have to deal with. Yeah, we made a mistake going onto the hard tyre. You don't have to use it, we chose to. That's life.”
Esteban Ocon, Alpine A522, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL36, Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT03
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Norris is unsure about the team’s potential form in Brazil as the battle with Alpine over fourth in the constructors' title continues.
The Enstone outfit currently leads by just seven points with two races remaining on the calendar, and Norris was not especially buoyant about McLaren's chances in Brazil.
“It makes me happy that we're closing the gap," he said. "But we're working hard. So I feel like we deserve to be getting what we're getting at the end of the day. But it means we still have to work extremely hard to beat them over the next two races.
“I don't know how we're going to do to be honest with you. I wouldn't say Brazil is going to suit us at all with our balance of the car and so on, and our struggles.
“But I think even the last few races, we've not been the quickest car or quick enough, we've just done a better job with the strategy and with reliability, such as today. So let's get to the chequered flag.”
Read Also:
- Ten things we learned from the 2022 F1 Mexican GP
- Mercedes unsure Ricciardo’s F1 strategy would have changed Mexico result
- Alonso feels Alpine is "unprepared" after engine failure in Mexico
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Sainz relieved to complete F1 Mexican GP after Japan, US first-lap exits
Next article Legendary Ferrari F1 designer Mauro Forghieri dies at 87
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
More from
McLaren
McLaren’s 2027-spec front wing is making its F1 car more predictable
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
19 h
McLaren’s 2027-spec front wing is making its F1 car more predictable
Latest news
WEC drivers question lack of full-course yellow after heavy Monza crash
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
1 h
WEC drivers question lack of full-course yellow after heavy Monza crash
Kyle Larson, Cliff Daniels and the Hendrick 5 are who we say they are
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
3 h
Kyle Larson, Cliff Daniels and the Hendrick 5 are who we say they are
Final NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Homestead finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
7 h
Final NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Homestead finale
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe