Norris suggests de Vries 'should try braking a bit earlier'

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Lando Norris had a wise piece of advice for Nyck de Vries after Sunday's Miami Grand Prix, the McLaren driver suggesting that the Dutchman "should try braking a bit earlier" on his next F1 start, having pushed the Briton off the track at Turn 1.

The commotion at the back of the grid at the start saw de Vries lock up into the first corner and ram the back of Norris' McLaren.

Fortunately, the contact resulted in little more than a brief off-track excursion for Norris.

©McLaren

"He’s done that a bit lately. He should try braking a bit earlier," commented the Briton on his first corner bump from behind.

"It didn’t change my day, I don’t know how much damage there was. There was definitely a little bit, but our lack of pace wasn’t because of that. We were just very slow today."

Read also: De Ferran returns to McLaren F1 team as special advisor

McLaren displayed a dismal pace in qualifying, with Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri lining up respectively P16 and P19 on Sunday's grid.

Expectations for race day were therefore subdued in the McLaren camp and rightly so as Norris crossed the checkered flag a lowly 17th, with Piastri two spots behind.

Norris cited an upswing in performance in Miami for McLaren's direct rivals and a trio of car-specific reasons for his team's poor result, one that will have instilled more doubt in the McLaren camp ahead of F1's upcoming Imola-Barcelona-Monaco triple header.

"Different reasons," noted Norris. "The track doesn’t suit us, longer corners don’t suit us, the temperatures don’t suit us.

"The track surface doesn’t suit us. There are many different aspects to it all. I’ve said, no one was slow either this weekend. Maybe the AlphaTauris were the only other slow car.

"Everyone else was pretty quick, the Alfa Romeos were mega fast, Haas was mega fast. Alpine was way quicker. I wouldn’t say we were that much different to where we have been.

"Just everyone else took a big step forward. A lot of it is down to car characteristics in my opinion. Same as what I’ve been saying the whole time."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.