Norris “devastated” by missed F1 win after late Russian GP heartbreak

A deluge in the closing stages at Sochi led to a frantic finale and caused chaos as the drivers were forced to make a late pitstop to switch from slick tyres to intermediates.

Norris led the majority of the race and looked to be able to hold off Hamilton to convert his maiden pole position into a first-ever win, but a decision not to pit for inters proved costly as he struggled to stay on the track.

The 21-year-old Briton lost the lead to Hamilton after skidding off the wet track before eventually pitting for inters as he dropped to seventh at the flag.

“Yeah I don’t know where to start,” a visibly emotional Norris told Sky. “Obviously unhappy, devastated in a way, but I guess we made a call to stay out and we stand by that call.

“Of course it was the wrong one at the end of the day but I made the decision as much as the team.

“In fact it was more they thought I should box and I decided to stay out, so it was my decision, I thought it was the way to go.”

Norris was convinced he had Hamilton covered until the rain started falling harder.

“I had the confidence beforehand, I felt capable of doing it for a while, but just a bit of heartbreak you know,” he said.

“Felt like I did everything I could even when it got tricky at the end. I made a couple of mistakes but still kept Lewis behind and managed to pull away a little bit.

“The laps I was out before Lewis boxed it was perfectly fine for the tyres I was on, and I got told the rain would be the same amount, so if it was the same amount I think it would have been the correct decision. But it obviously got a lot wetter than we as a team expected.”

Despite the obvious disappointment, Norris insisted he stands by his and McLaren’s decisions. 

“I mean especially when it’s two laps to go, if it’s 20 to go you are maybe not as aggressive with decisions,” he explained.

“But yeah, we did what we thought I’m right, which I’m happy with. Of course it was wrong at the end of the day, but we did an excellent job all weekend, so I’m happy with everything apart from that one decision which we’ll review and hopefully not try to do again.”