Lando Norris said that despite McLaren’s strategy didn’t work out in Jeddah, he is happy the team decided to be bolder than usual.
After Lance Stroll crashed out of the race and the safety car entered the track, many decided to pit for fresh tires. However, Norris wanted to try something different and not just sit behind his opponents. Therefore, he didn’t pit.
He admitted that it was a bit of a bet, as McLaren could’ve scored many points or lost a few. In the end, it didn’t pay off, but “it was the correct call to make”.
“You never know at the time, and we wanted to try something different, and not just stay behind,” said Norris when asked by Autosport/Motorsport.com about the call to remain on track and not pit.
“We could have gained a lot of points, or we could have lost a few. And in the end, we lost a few. But that’s just the way it is sometimes. So it was a good try, and I think it was the correct call to make.
“Sometimes I feel like we’re a little bit safe. And it’s nice to be a little bit more aggressive and try something different. So I’m happy with our decision.
“It wasn’t the best one, or let’s say the correct one. But that’s in hindsight. So I’m still happy with how we tried to execute it all.”
Norris also admitted that he didn’t believe that pitting for softs to cover himself from Lewis Hamilton was the best strategy, but he had to, even though he could’ve finished the race on the mediums.
“I had to, if I went on the hards, he would have got me,” he said. “The hards just take a couple more laps to come in. And he was very close to getting me anyway. So I think I would have chosen to go onto the softs.
“I could have gone to the checkered flag on the medium, I was very happy with that. Obviously, the pace was not great compared to the guys around. But I probably still would have finished higher than where I did if I didn’t box.
“But I had to, and the softs were I think the correct thing, but five laps later. I don’t think we did the best strategy. But I had to cover Lewis, so that kind of had us over a little bit. But I think we gave it the best effort we could.”