After participating in 110 grand prix races and achieving 16 podium finishes, McLaren driver Norris finally won his first F1 race last Sunday. He got lucky during a safety car period caused by a crash between Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Williams driver Logan Sargeant.
At the time, Norris was in fourth place, and his competitors were making their first pit stops. He managed to pit and rejoin the race in first place, benefiting from early leader Max Verstappen being slowed down by the safety car.
Ferrari’s Sainz didn’t have the same luck. He believes he could have won if he had pitted a lap later. However, he doesn’t think Norris’s win was undeserved. According to Sainz, Norris deserved some luck for his victory.
They’ve been teammates before, and Sainz knows Norris has been driving at a winning level for a while. Despite the luck factor, Sainz thinks Norris is a deserving winner.
Norris had shown his potential earlier in the season with two podium finishes, including a second place in the Chinese Grand Prix. Sainz acknowledges Norris’s consistent performance and believes he deserved the win, regardless of the luck involved.
In the post-race press conference, Norris admitted that winning the race without the free pit stop would have been tough. Verstappen chimed in, saying that racing is full of “ifs” and sometimes luck plays a part. He humorously added that it’s like saying “if my mum had balls, she would be my dad.” Racing, he concluded, is unpredictable, and luck can make a big difference.
