Lando Norris opens up on disappointment of losing Russian GP to Lewis Hamilton last season

McLaren ace Lando Norris has reflected on his heart-breaking finish at the Russian Grand Prix last season in Formula 1, where a late downpour of rain cost him his first-ever victory and paved the way for Lewis Hamilton to take his 100th in the sport.

Norris is gearing up for the 2022 season this weekend with the Bahrain Grand Prix taking place tomorrow, and he’ll hope there will be chances to seize a race win this season with the new rules and regulations coming into play.

Certainly, that desire to reach the top step in F1 is surely greater than ever after what happened to him in Russia in 2021, with him agonisingly close to turning pole position into victory before the heavens opened and the win was washed away.

Norris, in his sheer desperation to hold onto the lead, opted to stay out on dry tyres to try and bring the race home but, alas, it was the wrong call as the rain grew heavier and he eventually found himself sliding off of the circuit, before crawling back to the pits to get wet weather tyres, by which point the win had sailed off with the Mercedes of Hamilton.

It was horrible for the young Brit, and he has spoken at length about the disappointment and how he dealt with it speaking to the High Performance Podcast with Jake Humphrey:

“The next, let’s say two, three, four days [after] were pretty tough just ’cause it’s like you’re thinking that could have been my first win in Formula One.

“And I was like that could have been my only win in Formula One, my only chance to win in Formula One, you never know ’cause you don’t know what car we’re gonna have this year and next year and so on.

“There are times when people’s F1 careers only last a couple of years or three, four years, whatever it is. So like could that