Lando Norris narrowly escapes the same fate as George Russell in Singapore as he too kisses the wall – How Carlos Sainz’s DRS tactics helped him too
In the final lap of Singapore, Mercedes driver George Russell became the tragic figure of Sunday’s Formula One night race with his momentous wall kiss. But in fact, not only he, but also Lando Norris in the McLaren, who was driving directly in front of him, grazed the barriers at the same spot.
“The same thing happened to me. I think he did it to me,” joked the Briton, whose contact with the track barrier was much less serious. “It was worse for him. I feel for him. He drove a hard race and was probably one of the fastest…. He was the fastest, I would say.”
For Russell, it was straight down the line after the wall contact. For him, that meant the podium was gone. “That helped me a little bit,” Norris admits. “It allowed me to relax a bit more in the last couple of corners. “
Norris: I had to protect second place
Because in the final phase, the McLaren driver was mainly oriented towards the rear. From there, the two Mercedes drivers were closing in with big strides after a late change to medium. “It was about protecting P2,” said Norris.
There was no getting past race winner Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari: “Carlos did it cleverly. I didn’t need to try and attack him. The more I would have attacked him, the more vulnerable I probably would have been to the two guys behind me and I wouldn’t have finished second.”
“I think we both knew that as soon as the virtual safety car came in, we had to step on the gas for a lap and a half and try to make the gap as big as possible. But they caught us anyway. And then it was about not making a mistake. “
Steering slightly damaged after wall kiss
“I knew George would put a lot of pressure on me. And he did. I had to defend myself quite a bit, especially in turn 14, 15,” Norris reported. “Then Carlos backed off a bit and allowed me to use the DRS. “
“That was very helpful. So I think we did it cleverly together to keep the Mercedes behind us. Then on the last lap I went into the wall, same as George. It happens to me with the front so I panicked a bit because I thought maybe something was broken.”
Admittedly, the steering wasn’t quite centred after that, he said. “But luckily it wasn’t more than that,” revealed the McLaren driver, who equalled his best result with second place.
DRS trick by Sainz also helped Norris
His team was initially unaware of the wall-kiss itself. “But he told us straight away,” explained team boss Andrea Stella. “Then on the straight he zigzagged a bit, which is why I was worried. But I think he was just making sure everything was okay. We told him to keep pushing. “
Asked about Sainz’s DRS tactics, using Norris as a sort of buffer on the Mercedes, the Brit himself says: “I think our pace was strong – actually a bit better towards the end of the stints. So I think I would have caught him anyway.”
But it was more like he helped me the most when there was still a gap and I was under pressure from George,” Norris explains. “That helped him too, that he wasn’t under pressure, that he wasn’t being attacked, because I’m sure if I’d been overtaken Carlos would have been under a lot more stress too.”
“But he drove a great race. Everyone – Carlos, Charles, Lewis and George – pushed each other. It was very tiring, but it paid off. “