Is Norris struggling to deliver under pressure? McLaren boss responds

Speaking after the race, the McLaren team principal commented on the Briton’s performance as follows: "I think Lando today had a strong race. He raised to the limit of the potential that was available in the car. I think no other driver in Lando's car could have scored more."

According to the Italian, the main responsibility lay with the team, which should have provided the driver with a car better equipped to fight back during the race.

"If anything, the responsibility to try and extract more performance today or more points may lay more on the team side because with a fast or the fastest speed stop we could have given Lando the opportunity perhaps to attack Liam Lawson."

He finally added: "From a driving point of view, we are completely happy that Lando delivered to the limit of what was available today in the car."

Starting seventh after a small mistake in qualifying compromised his chance to line up at the front, Norris also struggled in the race against drivers who normally aren’t direct rivals for McLaren.

The Briton was stuck behind Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda for much of the race, never finding the decisive opportunity to overtake.

Norris still earned six valuable points on his teammate in the championship fight, but that tally could have been much higher with a better qualifying performance, especially considering how rarely Piastri has made such errors this year.

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