While most praise Max Verstappen for his bravura performance at Interlagos, title rival Lando Norris believes the Dutchman was lucky.

Yet again, though starting from pole, the McLaren driver lost out and by the end of the first lap was running second to George Russell.

The Briton never regained the lead, yet worse was to come for after he and Russell both pitted on Lap 28, rejoining in fourth (Russell) and fifth (Norris) behind second-placed Verstappen, the race was red-flagged after Franco Colapinto had crashed.

"I guess everyone can change tyres for free now," said Norris over his radio, while Russell was a little more forthcoming. "I said it, I said it," shouted the Mercedes driver. "We should have stayed out."

Speaking at race end, Norris clearly felt that this moment had been the game changer.

"It shouldn't have been red flagged," he insisted, "that was the crash in the end which caused the red so that's life sometimes. You take a gamble and it's paid off for them.

"It's not talent, it's just luck," he added, an obvious reference to Verstappen's win.

"I don't care about the hindsight side of things," said the Briton, who leaves Brazil 62 points adrift of his title rival, "that's luck for them, nothing more.

"They got lucky on a rule that no one agrees with," he continued, referring to the ability to change tyres under a red flag. "Probably they agreed with it but every driver has disagreed with it in the past.

"Today it benefitted them, it could have benefitted us if we just stayed out, but that's a stupid thing to think of. Just a bit unlucky today, nothing more. Of course, it's disappointing."

"We weren't quick enough. Max was easily quicker than us. I think if he went from the front, he probably would have lapped us. Pace is good, but the Red Bull was way faster."

Starting from 17th on the grid, shortly after the restart he took the lead from Esteban Ocon and went on to post a string of fastest lap eventually crossing the line almost 20s ahead of the Frenchman.

Check out our Sunday gallery from Sao Paulo here.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 06/11/2024 1:01

"No one could get near Max today...not even within a bull's roar. He was mighty and Norris should simply acknowledge that fact and then get on with it instead of looking for escape routes. Piastri made an unusual error and put his hand up without any fuss. A sportsmanlike gesture. He will learn from that but considering the weather and atrocious conditions that prevailed it was a minor error...by comparison."

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2. Posted by ffracer, 05/11/2024 11:15

"@Max Noble

Nice sentiment, and best intention, but I'd rather finish it with Brazilian F1 greats Emerson Fittipaldi and Nelson Piquet, Brazilian 2-time and 3-time F1 WCs respectively, are very proud of Max's mastery at Interlagos that day. Here's a thought (sorry, I gotta say this): I don't remember Fittipaldi or Piquet (or any other F1 WC for that matter - except one ) ever saying, in interviews, that they 'were designed to win, not to finish second or third'... Nelson Piquet or V Max would definitely never say that.

@ Meatball - incredible, 9 fastest laps. "

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3. Posted by Max Noble, 05/11/2024 5:36

"Fascinating comments! It reminds me of the old saying “The harder I work the luckier I get.” All great sports people have close calls on occasion where sometimes fortune favours them… and other times not. To call V. Max’s drive “lucky” is daft. From the very first moment the lights went out he drove a masterclass we’ve not seen in years. Senna would be very proud of that performance.
"

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4. Posted by meatball, 04/11/2024 21:05

"Lando with a mouthful of sour grapes. Yeah the restart and tire change was pure luck, for 3/4 of the field. max setting 9 fastest laps and running away from Ocon where Lando couldn't get past George is the talent part that Norris is trying to gloss over. "

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5. Posted by Mad Matt, 04/11/2024 20:56

"When he's gracious in defeat people complain that he lacks the "killer instinct" but when he show some eotion he's whining :-)

In another article he's quoted as saying "you win sometimes from these decision and somtimes you lose" (or words to that effect) and he says here that Max was so quick he'd have lapped them all if he'd started from the front.

To me he was just saying how he felt at that moment which, for me, is fair enough, a bit down after a great qualifying in mixed conditions, it didn't work out for him in the race, probably handicaped by McLaren's higher downforce setup meaning less speed on the straights and a little bit of bad luck coupled with a great drive from Max.

Reset, try again next time."

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6. Posted by ffracer, 04/11/2024 20:50

"Excellent points by all.

Having said all that, the 2024 Brazilian GP will go down as the one of the most gruelling, taxing weekends of all time - it should go down at the 72 hours of Brazil! I wonder anyone in the paddock even got a couple of hours sleep between all the carnage, updated strategies and the interim schedules. Qualifying at sunrise? Imagine what time they got there to start prep... did they ever leave? Everyone in the F1 circus deserves a standing ovation for what they pulled off in Brazil. I will give LN4’s crusty comments some reprieve. Having a microphone shoved under your nose at all hours in that deluge, and together with all the penalties, drama, effort and carnage, gets a pass from me. "

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7. Posted by Schrodinger's cat, 04/11/2024 16:40

"What a short memory Norris has.

Didn't he benefit from the delay in implementing a red flag at the end of Q2, while Verstappen was unlucky, which is why Verstappen started in 17th! And, that delay was confusing to all, because it was unique.

Also, he appears ungracious in defeat, which is the unfortunate consequence of his choice of words, as he clearly accepts that Verstappen was quicker."

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8. Posted by Celtic Tiger, 04/11/2024 15:48

"Lucky is getting to drive Senna's MP4/5B. The sour grapes coming from Norris is palpable."

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9. Posted by ffracer, 04/11/2024 15:42

"I normally like Lando Norris but he sounds petulant here, sorry. Max is always on maximum and in all areas of driving, pushing the limits and boundaries forcing the rulemakers to rethink the rules. Red Bull strategists have been brilliant for many years ( and despite their current chassis is giving them grief or woes this current season, other teams have fumbled more strategies). The senior team rarely make a mistake in prerace prep or pit stops... That isn't luck, that's discipline, precision and genius. "

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10. Posted by karel, 04/11/2024 10:23

"In Brazil they separated the men from the boys, the champions from the would be champions, Norris time to grow-up . "

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11. Posted by karel, 04/11/2024 10:21

"while"

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12. Posted by Anthony, 04/11/2024 9:37

"This is a very disappointing comment from Lando. Max was in a class of his own in this race and Lando should have acknowledged this."

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13. Posted by Stitch431, 04/11/2024 9:32

"Lucky that he did not get more punishment from Norris "Steward" supporters?"

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14. Posted by Pavlo, 04/11/2024 9:21

"Well, actually Max got both - luck and talent. Norris unfortunately didn't show neither. As well as the team.
Honestly, with such performance they just don't deserve WDC.
In the rain in Brasil, one has to account for possible crashes and try to cover. Starting first, he had the best chances to build the advantage, play tactics with Oscar and be the one to profit from any SC.

With the tyres - the drivers are good in wishing something, but this is absolutely correct rule. Imagine he would have a puncture before the red flag, and would get forced to restart with it, it would just mean DNF and he would immediately start explaining that this rule doesn't make sense.
First of all, this rule is well knows and situation is predictable, they can cover for it, but instead they hoped for luck."

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15. Posted by Kkiirmki, 04/11/2024 9:04

"What a sulky little child. Certainly doesn't mind lucking into his teammate’s points. Verstappen was on another planet today, luck (which Norris would have gladly accepted if he was the beneficiary) may have put him at the front, but extreme skill put him in the lead and 20 seconds ahead of the nearest finisher. Norris should be thankful that he didn’t receive a time penalty for his start line infringement."

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Max got lucky, claims Norris

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