Norris benefits from Mclaren teamwork

Lando Norris is becoming something of a last-lap F1 specialist as he charged to deprive Sergio Perez of fifth on the final tour, one week after his last-gasp fastest lap put Lewis Hamilton off the Austrian Grand Prix podium.

But there was a case to be made that it was his team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr who should have been the lead Mclaren after his qualifying heroics and solid first stint. Then a slow left-rear tyre change kept him stationary for an extra four seconds and put him back in the pack. Sainz then overconsumed on battery energy and tyre life trying to recover, which left him vulnerable to attack.

One of Sainz’s rivals was Norris, but the Spaniard played the team game perfectly, letting his team-mate by and giving him the chance to catch Daniel Ricciardo and the Racing Points at the finish. Sainz then pitted for fresh softs and came away with the fastest lap – a good achievement given that Max Verstappen’s Red Bull was vying for the same one-point bonus.

Norris did a fine job, managing his soft tyres for 39 laps in stint one. He was a tad fortunate that Lance Stroll’s divebomb took the Racing Point and Ricciardo off track, but the 20-year-old’s effort to catch the hobbled Perez was impressive.

“We want to apologise to Carlos for the issue we had at his first pitstop, which made his race more difficult than it should’ve been,” said Mclaren team principal Andreas Seidl. “The delay cost him several positions and we sent him into heavy traffic, which ruined his tyres and didn’t allow him to fight for the position he deserved to be in today. Carlos didn’t give up and did a great job securing the fastest lap, the second in a row for us.

“Lando showed he’s a fighter despite the pain [with his back] he suffered during the weekend. He continued to perform and stepped up when it really mattered, especially in the second half of the race and again with some exciting final laps.

Great teamwork between the two drivers swapping on track when it was needed.”