‘We just got undercut’ – Norris insists McLaren have ‘no excuses’ after missing out on win in Miami

Lando Norris feels that there are “no excuses” for McLaren other than being undercut after losing out on victory in the Miami Grand Prix, the Briton having to settle for P2 behind Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli.

In an action-packed race, Norris took the lead shortly after a Safety Car period in the early stages. However, when he made a pit stop one lap later than Antonelli, the McLaren emerged back on track behind the Italian.

While Norris continued to chase down Antonelli as the race wore on, the Mercedes driver did enough to stay ahead and crossed the line 3.264s clear of Norris.

Reflecting back on the race, the reigning World Champion said: “A mixed bag, really. We just got undercut. No excuses other than that. We got undercut; we should have boxed first. Kimi did a good job, hats off to Merc and Kimi – they drove a good race.

“It’s easy to make mistakes out there with the big braking zones and with these cars, but he didn’t make any big enough for me to capitalise on. I have to be happy, and I think as a team we have to be happy.

“I’m gutted to miss out on a win here in Miami, I think it was possible today, but not the pace to get back past him in the end. We take it on the chin, and it’s still a positive weekend altogether.”

Norris suggested that a key element of the race was “who could make the least mistakes”, adding: “You still have to be tactical with how you use the battery; you can easily just get caught up in the wrong running of things and get caught out badly. But other than that, I feel like I did a good job, and the team did a good job all weekend, so I have to be proud of everyone.”

On the other side of the garage, Oscar Piastri got himself into the action during the latter stages of the race, overtaking Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc towards the very end to grab the final position on the podium.

“It’s not been the most straightforward of weekends,” Piastri conceded after the Grand Prix. “I think Qualifying yesterday was a bit messy for both of us [McLaren drivers], but the pace seemed more encouraging again today.

“I had to make a few overtakes, and obviously the end of the race was a pretty late charge, but it’s just very, very tricky around here, especially in these conditions. Thanks to the team. Clearly, we’re a step closer in performance once again, so it’s nice to see.”

With the event proving to be McLaren’s strongest of the season so far, Piastri admitted that it was “definitely” promising to see how much the team had closed the gap to Mercedes.

“I think this weekend we showed that if we get track position, we can hang onto things well,” he explained. “We were close in Japan, but we’ve definitely taken a step forward, and hopefully in Canada we can take another step forward again. I’m excited for the future.”