Ex-F1 driver slams McLaren over Norris decision: "It made absolutely no sense"

Norris had built a six-second advantage over Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli before the VSC was deployed, leaving McLaren particularly exposed when the field’s pace was reduced. The reigning world champion had just missed the chance to pit, while his rivals could make their stops when pace was reduced.

Palmer felt McLaren had been unfortunate with the timing of the VSC but "didn't understand the logic" behind their decision to pit Norris as soon as green flag racing resumed.

To me this looked like a case of the race strategists running a strategy by numbers rather than reading the race in front of them. Pitting at the first opportunity, even under green flag conditions might have been the best option in terms of executing the best race time on paper but it completely missed a few critical aspects.

Palmer highlighted the difficulty of overtaking at the new circuit in Madrid and that pitting as early as they did after the VSC "took away any remaining opportunities for the team".

Lando Norris has reignited a proposal previously discussed by F1 drivers to make the VSC system fairer and prevent it from having such a major impact on a race’s natural flow.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Norris stressed that his frustration was not aimed at McLaren or any individual. Instead, the Briton took issue with a rule he believes can have too much influence on a race result, arguing that victory should be decided by on-track performance and strategic decisions—not by a perfectly timed VSC giving certain drivers a much cheaper pit stop.

He said: "I don't think it should be the way you lose. We have spoken about it in the past in drivers' briefings and said you should leave it out for at least a lap. So then it is equal for everyone. Today, I was the only one who lost out. And I lost out on about 20 seconds of race time and that is not how it should be."