Norris defends McLaren after odd strategy

Lando Norris has defended McLaren in its decision to give him an extra pit-stop at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix - which subsequently cost him a place to his team-mate.

Norris was behind Sergio Perez when he pitted for the second time, during the Virtual Safety Car period of the race. The pit meant his McLaren team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr. was able to overtake the Briton.

The British team were hoping Norris' set of used soft tyres would able to help him overtake Sainz and Perez in the remaining 12 laps; but the youngster was unable to make any real notable progress.

Despite the strange choice from McLaren, Norris has jumped to its defence, revealing he was "happy" with his team's tactics.

"As a team, we didn't win or lose points from where we were before I stopped," Norris admitted. "We just wanted something to see if we could have a bigger advantage over Checo (Perez) to get ahead because we didn't have the straight-line speed to pass him.

"We just tried something a bit different. And it wasn't a win or a loss in the end, we just swapped positions, basically. So, I'm happy with a seventh and eighth, it's good points for the team."