Lando Norris missed out on his first Formula 1 win in Sochi following a tactical error during the final laps of the race. The young Brit bagged his maiden pole position on a wet Sochi qualifying on Saturday. The Mclaren driver led the majority of the race keeping Lewis Hamilton at bay until the last stage of the exhilarating race. However, a late downpour turned things around for Norris.

He decided to stay out on slicks meanwhile Hamilton came in for the pit stop and switched to treaded wets. Needless to say, that tactical decision cost Norris his first F1 win.

Lando Norris revisits the incident

In a recent interview published by BBC, the Briton had managed to put that loss in perspective. However, he is still disappointed to miss out on what could have been his first F1 win. “Of course, when people remind me of it, it’s still very disappointing because it was that first opportunity to win a race in F1.” 

The Surrey team driver thinks the decision to stay out would have worked if there was no more rain. It was one of those gut decisions for the team that did not pay off. “If it didn’t rain anymore, I’m 99.999% sure I would’ve won the race. The only person who would’ve beaten me was Lewis if he managed to get past. And when he boxed [pitted], if it didn’t rain anymore, I’m 100% sure I would’ve won race – he wouldn’t have been able to catch me,” said Norris as reported by BBC.

Mercedes made the right call

As the race approached its final stage, the weather worsened and made things tougher for Norris, who was on slick tires. However, Mercedes took a bold tactical choice to call Hamilton in for the pit-stop. The weather radar helped the Brackley team make this move and Hamilton went on to clinch his 100th win. Norris seemed slightly disappointed about the same because Lewis and himself were initially on the same page.

” But the fact that I didn’t know there was more rain coming and he did is what allowed the [Mercedes] team to make a decision to say: You have to come in and box,” said the Mclaren driver.

Nevertheless, the young Brit will surely bag his first win sooner than later.

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