Lando Norris secured his second career podium at the Imola GP, after he finished P3, behind the likes of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Norris was running in the second place, before he was surpassed by Lewis Hamilton towards the dying stages of the race.
Norris managed to keep the two Ferrari cars behind him, but could not hold off the seven time champion. The young Briton also did not challenge Max Verstappen for the top spot, given that he had to take care of his tyres. He stated that it was a tough decision to make, but if he had gone for the P1 spot, he would have never made it to the podium.
It was a big decision: Lando Norris
Lando Norris believes that he could have gone after Max Verstappen, which was a tough decision to make given the condition of his tyres.
“This was a big decision I had to make,” Norris said in a social media video. “I’m on the soft because my only chance of overtaking with Leclerc would be at the very start. And on the soft tyre, compared to a medium, they come in a bit quicker. So we made the decision to go onto the soft. I think I could have overtaken Max,” he said. “Especially on like lap two [after the restart],” he added.
“But as that lap began, look after the tyre,” Norris’ team told him on his radio. “I could have overtaken Verstappen, I think. Maybe not. I could have at least tried,” he added. “But I wouldn’t have finished on the podium, I think, if I tried, because I would have killed my tyres and I think Leclerc would have got me,” Norris continued.
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