Norris fears McLaren have missed best chance of a win

AUSTIN, Texas : Lando Norris took yet another second place at the U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday but feared his resurgent McLaren team may now have missed their best chance of a win this season.

The 23-year-old Briton has finished runner-up five times this year and six times in a Formula One career that remains without a victory.

Sunday's latest second came when stewards disqualified Mercedes' seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton from that position long after the podium celebrations at Austin's Circuit of the Americas.

If that was an unexpected bonus, with McLaren also overtaking Aston Martin for fourth place overall, Norris was still beating himself up for the one that got away two weeks earlier in Qatar, where he finished third after starting 10th.

Australian rookie team mate Oscar Piastri won the sprint at Lusail and was second in the main race.

"I think Qatar was our best chance of winning a race. And I missed out on that one," Norris told reporters.

"I think there's no... Qatar-style circuits left which is where we're strong.

"If you looked at the GPS and the overlays of how bad we are in the slow speed I'm not looking forward to Brazil. I think we're going to be pretty shocking there."

Norris seized the lead from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, also later disqualified, at the first corner in Austin and led until the half distance when Red Bull's eventual winner Max Verstappen overtook him.

Verstappen went on to celebrate his 50th win and record-equalling 15th in 18 races this season.

The Dutch driver pointed out to Norris that the Briton had a good record in Abu Dhabi, which hosts next month's season-ender after rounds in Mexico, Brazil and Las Vegas.

"Maybe Abu Dhabi, you never know. We'll see. I don't think they're any good