Norris ‘praying for one more lap’ after second-place finish at Emilia-Romagna GP
20th May 2024Feature image credit: McLaren Racing
McLaren’s Lando Norris was ‘praying for one more lap’ as he was denied a second career victory at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won.
Norris narrowly missed out on turning his maiden win, last time out at the Miami Grand Prix, into back-to-back victories as he was beaten by Red Bull’s reigning world champion.
In the dying embers of the race, Norris found himself around six seconds off Verstappen. Over the laps, Norris chipped away at the Dutchman’s lead and took the chequered flag seven-tenths away from Verstappen.
At the post-race press conference, Norris was ‘praying’ for an additional lap to allow him to win the race on track.
“I was just praying for one more lap. I was just praying for someone to say one more lap,” said Norris at the post-race press conference. “I don’t know why. But yeah, I mean, I just did everything I could. I was pushing like hell to get there and catch up and have a chance.”
On lap 45, Norris found himself quite a distance away from the leading Red Bull but seven laps later the Briton was putting in consistently faster lap times.
The British driver soon found himself 1.5 seconds behind the leading world champion but suffered a couple of scrappy moments which hindered Norris’ attack, causing him to lose ground on the Dutchman.
As the race ran to its allotted lap count (63 laps), Norris was within the one-second mark to use the DRS as the two drivers crossed the finishing line.
“Seven-tenths,” Norris continued. “Like one more lap, at least he would have had to defend into Turn 1, and maybe something could have come from that, but one lap too late.
“It’s a shame, but it is what it is, and we just struggled too much in the beginning of the race.”
Despite missing out on the win, Norris believes McLaren is at a point where they can fight ‘Ferrari and Red Bull consistently’
“I think we’re at the point where we’re able to fight Ferrari and Red Bull consistently,” Norris said. “We must get used to that – the team is doing a very good job so it’s great that fighting at the front is now business-as-usual. We just need to keep focused on improving.”
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Verstappen secures F1 Emilia-Romagna GP win despite Norris pressure
- Piastri slapped with three-place grid drop for F1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix
- Verstappen claims seventh pole position ahead of Emilia-Romagna GP
- F1 Emilia-Romagna: Leclerc completes Friday clean sweep with fastest lap in Imola
- Tsunoda looks back at Imola floods ahead of Emilia-Romagna GP
- Mercedes F1 hoping new Imola upgrades push team ‘in the right direction’
Give us a follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up with the latest news from the world of Motorsport! You can also support us on Patreon or on our website!
Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
