Lando Norris says 125-race driver ‘deserved to win’ Sao Paulo Grand Prix instead of Max Verstappen

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The Sao Paulo Grand Prix may not have decided the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship mathematically, but McLaren driver Lando Norris’s chances have been well and truly dashed by Max Verstappen.

McLaren handed Lando Norris victory in Saturday’s Sprint Race, with teammate Oscar Piastri moving aside in the final laps knowing that every point could count.

Norris then drove beautifully through a disrupted Sunday morning qualifying session to take pole position.

He wouldn’t have the support of his teammate who made a mistake on his final lap but started 16 places ahead of Max Verstappen after an ill-timed red flag in Q2 and a five-second grid penalty.

That ultimately didn’t matter with Verstappen nailing his race start, overtaking seven cars before the end of lap one before staying out long enough to change his tyres under the red flag.

Norris lost out at the race start to Mercedes driver George Russell and while he spent much of the first stint directly behind him, he had to wait until after their pit stop to get past him just moments before the safety car came out.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the race, Norris admitted that he made too many mistakes to deserve the victory in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

And while Verstappen put in a brilliant performance according to Karun Chandhok, it was Russell in his 125th F1 race that Norris thought deserved victory.

Lando Norris thought George Russell ‘deserved to win’ the Brazilian Grand Prix

Norris was asked about his race start and how he struggled compared to Russell in the second phase of the start and said: “Yeah, the wet start is just a bit of a gamble.

“I mean we got it right on one day and on the other day not, the left side of the track was a bit better than the right side, so that didn’t change much.

“All of our position losses were just under the red flag and it gave a free pit stop to the others.

READ MORE: Mercedes driver George Russell’s life outside F1 from net worth to height

“Unfortunate, nothing more. George probably felt like he won the race today and he probably deserved to win the race today more than anyone else.

“But sometimes it’s just unlucky and that goes against you, so yeah, difficult day. I made a couple of mistakes, it cost me against George and it cost me against Charles [Leclerc].

“It was a tough day, I did my best, I’ve had a lot of good races so it’s about time that something didn’t go right.”

Lando Norris set to miss out on maiden Drivers’ Championship title after Sao Paulo Grand Prix difficulties

Norris knew he had work to do at the final restart with Esteban Ocon leading the race from Verstappen.

The Dutchman executed another perfect move down the inside of turn one, while Norris had to escape onto the runoff area as he couldn’t slow down his McLaren quick enough to make the corner.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration

Piastri let him pass again but he wasn’t able to find a way through Leclerc and had to settle for sixth.

Although team orders would have come into play, Piastri had a penalty for hitting Liam Lawson so it made sense for him to be allowed through.

Verstappen now knows that a win at the next race in Las Vegas will be enough to be a four-time Formula 1 world champion.

McLaren’s slow start to the campaign may have cost Norris, but question marks remain over whether he’s got the credentials to match the likes of Verstappen over an entire season.