Norris taking positives from Austin Sprint despite ‘disappointing end’ as he suggests McLaren don’t have pace of rivals

Lando Norris was happy to come away from the Sprint at the United States Grand Prix with third place – despite losing out on P2 following a last-lap move from Carlos Sainz – as the Briton believes McLaren are lacking the pace of Max Verstappen and the Ferraris.

After lining up in fourth place on the grid, Norris had a strong launch off the line which saw him surge up into second on the opening lap, putting his MCL38 ahead of both Ferraris and the Mercedes of George Russell.

READ MORE: Verstappen seals assured Sprint victory in Austin thriller ahead of Sainz and Norris

While he looked to be on course for that position for much of the 19-lap encounter – with Verstappen having built up a lead of several seconds up ahead – Norris found himself under pressure from Sainz as the Sprint headed towards its close, and a lock-up from the 24-year-old allowed his former team mate to sweep through.

Asked after the event about what had happened on the last lap, Norris explained: “I mean, it was a good race. Honestly I’m pretty happy with how things ended up.

“It was a tough one, I thought I could maybe hang onto second, but Carlos did a good job and my front tyres were completely finished so there was not a lot I could do, whether I stayed straight or defended or not I’m pretty sure I would have lost the position to Carlos.

“A disappointing end, but I’m happy with the race result and a good amount of points.”

READ MORE: ‘Finally we’re racing again’ – Verstappen buoyed by Sprint victory at Circuit of The Americas

Reflecting back on his impressive start to the Sprint – having not always enjoyed strong launches during the season – Norris added: “There’s a few races the starts were bad, but otherwise they’ve been good, and today was a good start again and a good first corner.

“I did the most I could. I don’t think we have the pace on Max or the Ferraris, therefore I’m happy to finish third.”

On the other side of the McLaren garage, Oscar Piastri had lined up on the grid in P16 after a tough Sprint Qualifying on Friday, but the Australian managed to make gains during Saturday’s event as he pulled off a number of overtakes.

While he was handed a five-second time penalty for forcing Alpine’s Pierre Gasly off the track, Piastri ultimately crossed the line in P10, meaning that he missed out on points with the top eight finishers scoring in the Sprint format.

AS IT HAPPENED: Follow all the action from the F1 Sprint in the United States

“We didn’t really expect much from the Sprint, just to try and learn for tomorrow really, which I think we did,” Piastri commented afterwards.

“Obviously hopefully I don’t have to overtake as many cars tomorrow! I think we learned a good amount, had a bit of fun, the pace at the end looked reasonably competitive, so all in all pretty happy.”