"What a bottle from Lando Norris and McLaren today": Fans react to the disastrous race for the British team

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had a day to forget. The McLaren duo failed to use their advantage over their rivals and instead "bottled" the race amid treacherous conditions at Interlagos. The Papaya drivers finished the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix race in the P6 (Norris) and P8 (Piastri) positions.

Norris started the race from the pole position, but on Turn 1 of the very first lap, he lost the lead to Mercedes' George Russell. The #4 driver is infamous for losing the lead immediately after starting from pole, and Sunday's race was no different. The McLaren driver then had to play the catch-up game. Norris' pit stop also came at a disadvantageous time, as he moved further back from P2.

His teammate Piastri, who started the race from P8, finished in the same position. Even though the Australian driver finished in P6, a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision dropped him down to P8.

Furthermore, both Norris and Piastri are under investigation by the FIA for race start infringement.

As the British team fumbled on a challenging day, fans shared their reactions on X, formerly Twitter. Here are some reactions:

"What a bottle from Lando and McLaren today and it could get even worse. This was the race to show that you’re serious and they fumbled," a fan wrote.

"Title race surely over now… we absolutely had to capitalise on Max’s poor qualifying and we f*cked it," another wrote.

"Bottle job not necessary from the drivers but from the team. Horrible decision to pit when they did. Not excising the drivers but that stop is where it started," another fan wrote, blaming the pit stop decision by McLaren.

"Team and drivers bottled it this weekend, massive letdown," wrote another fan, reiterating the same.

A fan pointed out Norris' drive which was full of mistakes, "Shocking for Lando today. Mistake after Mistake. No more prioritizing him going forward."

"I am sorry to say, Let’s just focus on the constructor championship now guys. Max was incredible today. Setup of McLaren was not good enough for winning today," another fan wrote, asking McLaren to forget about winning the Drivers' Championship.

A disappointing day for Lando Norris saw Max Verstappen extend his Championship lead to 62 points with only three races and a Sprint remaining in the season.

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Lando Norris shared his thoughts following a poor Brazilian F1 GP

Oscar Piastri leads Lando Norris of McLaren (Source: Getty Images)

Following the pitiful show at Interlagos, Lando Norris shared his take at the post-race interview. Speaking to the media, Norris termed Max Verstappen's victory as a "lucky" one, and stated George Russell deserved to win.

Here's what he said:

"I had faith in the team in what they say. I trust them. That is luck for them. They got lucky. A rule that no one aggresses with. None of us drivers agree with it, they might agree with it now."

"Starts a bit of a gamble. Sometimes it goes one way and sometimes the other. With the red flag it was free stops, and George deserved to win the race."

After 21 races and five Sprints, Lando Norris has accumulated 331 points, trailing Max Verstappen's 393. Despite a recent setback, McLaren maintains its lead in the Constructors' Championship with 593 points. Ferrari follows closely with 557 points, and Red Bull is in third place with 544 points.