"Left the door open like an amateur": Lando Norris shares where and how he lost the Austrian GP sprint race to Max Verstappen

Lando Norris recently talked about his on-track battle with Max Verstappen and how he lost the race to the defending world champion. The McLaren driver also explained how certain maneuvers after the race settles.

The third sprint race of the 2024 F1 season recently took place at the Red Bull Ring on Saturday, prior to the Austrian GP. On Friday, Max Verstappen managed to bag pole position for the sprint race, while McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri secured P2 and P3, respectively.

At the start of the sprint race on Saturday, both the McLaren drivers were right up there with Verstappen. Norris and Piastri were under a second from the race leader and took full advantage of the DRS system to keep up with the Red Bull driver. On Lap 5, Lando Norris made a bold move down Verstappen's inside line to take the lead at Turn 3.

However, Max Verstappen was quick to respond to the bold move and retook the lead from Norris in Turn 4. Eventually, the Dutch driver won the sprint race, with Lando Norris finishing third after being passed by his teammate.

In the post-race interview, Norris talked about the battle between him and Verstappen. He initially explained how, after a certain point in the race, it becomes difficult to pull off such maneuvers against drivers. He stated that he made a blunder by leaving too much space for Verstappen to make the move.

"Once things settle in too much, once the tires get too hot, it is difficult to do too much. I had to make the most of my opportunity. Then I messed it up and left the door open like an amateur. So like I said, some things improve and we can definitely give them a fight tomorrow," Norris said.

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Lando Norris on challenging Max Verstappen and winning races with McLaren

Lando Norris recently talked about winning more races and challenging Max Verstappen, Red Bull, and other rival teams in 2024.

The British driver believes that he and McLaren can win races, considering their recent performances. However, he said that he is going up against some of the best drivers and teams in F1, referring to Verstappen and Red Bull. He also acknowledged all the other rival teams that can hamper his run.

"We could go on and win races. I definitely think that’s possible with how the team are performing and how I’m performing. But we’re against one of the best drivers ever in F1 and one of the best performing teams in F1 and then you have everyone else apart from that who can easily get in the mix too," Norris said (via BBC)

After the Austrian GP sprint race, Max Verstappen continues to lead the drivers' championship table with 227 points, while Lando Norris is in second with 156 points.