Lando Norris admits that his McLaren team have one or two aspects that they can improve on after he lost a position to George Russell at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Mercedes brought George Russell into the pits earlier than the 22-year-old and, when Norris re-emerged on Slicks, the Silver Arrows driver ducked back underneath him on the exit of Sainte-Devote and slipped past the McLaren.
Before Norris grabbed the fastest lap at the end of the race, he was sat just behind the 24-year-old, and over half a minute clear ahead of seventh-placed Fernando Alonso.
READ: Aston Martin ‘a good choice’ for Schumacher as another Ferrari junior could replace him at Haas
The Spaniard was trying to make a set of Mediums go all the way to the end of the race, so was running at a much slower pace to preserve them.
This caused a train all the way down to 14th-placed Lance Stroll, so Norris had a pit window if he needed it.
He queried over the radio why he was not being allowed to put pressure on Russell ahead given that, if he wore his tyres out too much, he could simply just come back into the pits without losing a position.
“I’m obviously under no threat from behind, right? So surely I can just push now and try and make him make a mistake ahead?’ If you don’t want me to push what the hell am I meant to do, just sit here?” he said.
He was told by engineer Will Joseph to look after his tyres in the event that “rain came towards the end.”
In the end, the six-time podium finisher boxed for a fresh set of tyres and set the fastest lap of the race as Russell held on for fifth.
He was happy enough with P6, but maintained that the team as a whole did not do a “perfect job” on strategy.
“It was a good race although we lost one position to the Merc,” he said, quoted by Motorsport.com.
“That happens sometimes in these conditions. You can take your risk of going one lap earlier. But it is a risk, sometimes you’ll lose from it, sometimes you gain, and today they gained.
“There’s things we’ll talk about, about the strategy, I don’t think we did a perfect job.
“And of course, there’s always things to work on and improve on. Something for us to talk about back behind the scenes, and back in MTC, and not something to talk about now. But yeah, things to definitely improve on from that side.”
In the media pen, the 22-year-old did his best to put into words how difficult it is to get a Formula 1 car round the Monaco Grand Prix Circuit in such treacherous conditions.
“It was tough. In these conditions, I can’t describe how difficult driving a Formula 1 car in the wet is around this track,” explained Norris.
“It’s genuinely one of the scariest things I’ve ever done in my life.
“But yeah, it’s good fun, rewarding at the same time and I’m happy with P6 in the end.”
Norris was suffering from tonsillitis during the Spanish Grand Prix, but still managed to finish eighth, and he missed his media commitments on the Friday of the Monaco weekend to further his recovery.
The McLaren driver still has not regained full fitness, but hopes to be back to his physical best in Azerbaijan next weekend.
“I am [better], not all the way still,” explained Norris.
“I’ve still got a bit of recovery to do which I will be doing over the next couple of weeks to make sure I’m ready for Baku.
“I’m confident, I feel like I’m driving well, I’m confident with the car at this minute, the car and the package is in a decent place.
READ: Alonso reveals if he’s willing to step aside for Piastri in 2022 after suffering injury
“So just with me feeling a bit better and feeling in a perfect position for Baku, then I feel like we can hopefully have a good weekend so I look forward to that.”
Norris continues to sit seventh in the Drivers’ Championship after scoring nine points in Monaco, putting him just two points behind Sir Lewis Hamilton in sixth.