Motor racing-'Not a good weekend for me': Norris rues poor decision-making in Singapore

Formula One F1 - Singapore Grand Prix - Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore - October 8, 2026 McLaren's Lando Norris ahead of the race REUTERS/Edgar Su

SINGAPORE, Oct ⁠11 (Reuters) - McLaren's Lando Norris delivered a harsh self-assessment after a weekend of costly mistakes at the Singapore ⁠Grand Prix, conceding on Sunday his decision-making let him down once again as a potential podium position ‌slipped through his fingers.

After apologising for colliding with teammate Oscar Piastri on the final lap in Saturday's sprint that cost the McLarens fourth and fifth, Norris had the opportunity to take third place from Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton in Sunday's race.

As Hamilton's pace collapsed in the final stages, Norris ​attempted to pass his compatriot but the Ferrari driver went wide while ⁠he went on the dirty part of ⁠the track, allowing Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli to pounce and move up.

"I should have done a better job battling Lewis. ⁠It ‌was inevitable that I was going to pass him at some point, I just shouldn't have tried to overtake him when I did," Norris said after finishing fourth.

"I braked a bit late and could have still put ⁠a good move in and he would have had to let me ​pass because he braked way too ‌late. A bit unnecessary from me.

"Not a good weekend for me in terms of making decisions like ⁠that."

McLaren face mounting ​pressure in the constructors' championship after Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the last two races in Sepang and Singapore.

Red Bull, fourth in the constructors' standings, are now within seven points of third-placed McLaren and Norris was pessimistic about his team's chances of holding off ⁠their rivals.

'WORST OF THE TOP FOUR'

"We can't (catch up) unless we bring ​upgrades and we don't have anything for a little bit," said Norris, the reigning champion who is sixth in the standings this year.

"At the minute we're fourth-fastest back to the top group, which is closer than we were at the beginning of ⁠the year and we can still fight pretty well.

"We're still fighting for top four and almost for podiums but we're still too far off and we're the worst of the top four teams. We just have to keep upgrading the car."

However, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said they had learned more about their cars after races in Sepang and ​Singapore.

"I think there's no big surprises. It was good to see that here in ⁠Singapore, we are where we expected to be," he said.

"Verstappen and Red Bull are just taking advantage of the upgrades ​that they have delivered and it's what we call, this season, the ‌ping pong.

"Basically, people come with upgrades, even if like in ​the case of Mercedes, I understand that they have some issues themselves. But people coming with upgrades, they can take a little step forward."

(Reporting by Rohith Nair and Tom Westbrook in Singapore;Editing by Christian Radnedge)

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一级方程式赛车（F1）——新加坡大奖赛——新加坡滨海湾街道赛道——2026年10月8日 迈凯伦车队的兰多·诺里斯赛前 路透社/埃德加·苏

新加坡，10 月 11 日（路透社）——迈凯伦车队的兰多·诺里斯在新加坡大奖赛周末遭遇一系列代价惨重的失误后，进行了严厉的自我评价。周日，他承认自己的决策再次让他失望，错失了登上领奖台的机会。

在周六的冲刺赛最后一圈与队友奥斯卡·皮亚斯特里发生碰撞，导致迈凯伦车队损失第四和第五名后，诺里斯道歉，并在周日的比赛中有机会从法拉利车队的刘易斯·汉密尔顿手中夺得第三名。

在比赛的最后阶段，汉密尔顿的速度骤然下降，诺里斯试图超越他的同胞，但这位法拉利车手在驶入赛道脏污部分时走错了方向，让梅赛德斯的基米·安东内利抓住机会超越了他。

“我本应该在与刘易斯的较量中做得更好。我迟早会超过他，但我不应该在那个时候试图超越他，”诺里斯在获得第四名后说道。

“我刹车有点晚了，本来还可以完成一次漂亮的超车，他肯定会让我超过去，因为他刹车太晚了。我其实没必要这么做。”

“就做这类决定而言，这个周末对我来说不太顺利。”

在红牛车队的马克斯·维斯塔潘赢得雪邦和新加坡的最后两场比赛后，迈凯伦车队在车队积分榜上面临着越来越大的压力。

红牛车队目前在车队积分榜上排名第四，与排名第三的迈凯伦车队仅有7分之差。诺里斯对自己的车队能否抵挡住竞争对手的追赶并不看好。

“前四名中最差的”

“除非我们进行升级，否则我们无法（赶上），但我们暂时没有任何升级的计划，”卫冕冠军诺里斯说道，他今年在积分榜上排名第六。

“目前我们重返前列的速度排名第四，比年初的时候更接近前列，我们仍然有很强的竞争力。”

“我们仍在为前四名而战，几乎就要登上领奖台了，但我们距离目标还差得很远，而且我们是前四支车队中最差的。我们只能继续升级赛车。”

然而，迈凯伦车队负责人安德烈亚·斯特拉表示，在雪邦和新加坡的比赛之后，他们对自己的赛车有了更多的了解。

“我认为没有什么大的意外。很高兴看到我们在新加坡的发展符合预期，”他说。

“维斯塔潘和红牛车队只是在利用他们带来的升级，这就是我们本赛季所说的‘乒乓球’战术。”

“基本上，人们都是带着升级套件来的，即使像奔驰那样，我知道他们自身也存在一些问题。但带着升级套件来的，他们可以向前迈出一小步。”

（新加坡 Rohith Nair 和 Tom Westbrook 报道；Christian Radnedge 编辑）

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