Norris: Points always unlikely even without Hamilton clash

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Lando Norris said that scoring a top ten finish in the Spanish Grand Prix was always going to be an unlikely prospect, even without his opening lap run-in with Lewis Hamilton that damaged the front wing of his McLaren.

Norris launched his race from third on the grid but lost a spot to Lewis Hamilton on the run into the first corner.

The McLaren driver then tagged the back of the Mercedes on the entry into Turn 2, a contact that broke his front wing and forced the Briton into the pits at the end of the first lap, which left him chasing thereafter and a lowly P17 at the checkered flag.

©McLaren

"I didn’t see in Turn 1 one that Max went off the track, went a bit wide, so then he had to bounce over the kerb in Turn 2, and then everyone just checked up and I was too close to Lewis to be able to react, to brake and whatever. So just unlucky in my opinion.

"Lewis was fine," Norris added. "He didn’t do anything wrong. It wasn’t an incident, it was just unlucky, nothing more than that.

"Just checked up and I didn’t know that he was going to check up and I just touched Lewis as well. Obviously nothing happened to him. Maybe it made him quicker today!"

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After his scintillating performance in qualifying on Saturday, Norris struggled all afternoon to make progress.

"The pace was as expected today, which was bad," he admitted.

"I don't think we expected anything else really. Our aim was to maybe finish in the points, but we weren't expecting anything like yesterday."

©McLaren

Asked if he could have put a few points on the board without his opening lap tangle with Hamilton, Norris replied: "Probably not, no."

"Because we're slow, we have been all year. I don't know, there's nothing else to say.

"Yesterday was a special day. Some good teams struggled a lot and some of the worse teams did a better job, so it was just an odd day, people making a lot of mistakes and we just capitalised on that.

"Apart from that, we've been off the pace all season, struggling to finish in the points in half the races. And today was just that again.

"There was the expectation that we would have had a very difficult day today.

"We're clearly nowhere near as quick as Alpine, Aston or all of these top-five, top-six teams.

"There's no point in thinking 'we're going to finish in the points' because we're just not quick enough."

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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.