Lando Norris points finger of blame after British GP howler helps ...

McLaren star Lando Norris took the blame after making a key error to hand Lewis Hamilton victory in the British Grand Prix.

Norris started third in Sunday's race, behind the Mercedes of Hamilton and his team-mate George Russell. As rain hit Silverstone, Norris was able to pass the Silver Arrows duo and take the lead.

Heavier showers forced all 19 drivers running to pit for intermediate tyres afer 28 laps. Twelve laps later the rain had eased off, though Russell had been forced to retire by that point, with the remaining runners pitting again to go back to slick tyres.

Norris boxed a lap after his rivals for the win, with Max Verstappen going onto the hards and Hamilton taking the softs. But it all went wrong for the young Brit as he overshot his marks in the McLaren pit box.

That meant his mechanics had to waste crucial seconds adjusting themselves to Norris' unexpected position. Those wasted seconds allowed Hamilton to surge ahead of his compatriot and take over the lead of the race.

Norris had put softs on but he was unable to find enough grip to close the gap on Hamilton. And to rub salt into his wounds, he found himself being hauled in by Red Bull's Verstappen, who was running on hard tyres.

With four laps remaining, Verstappen swept around the outside of Norris on the Hanger Straight to send the McLaren man crashing into third place. Hamilton was able to hold off the charging Verstappen to take his first win since 2021.

HAVE YOUR SAY! Who was your Driver of the Day in the British Grand Prix? Comment below.

Norris had been catching Verstappen in the race for the world championship, but this setback will be a bitter blow. And after he congratulated Hamilton on a record-breaking win, the young British star admitted he had made a key error.

"First of all, congrats to Lewis. That crucial decision at the end he just did a better job. Hats off to him and Mercedes so they deserve it. It was tough. It was enjoyable, it was fun battling these guys," he said.

"These tricky conditions are always on a knife edge and you're risking a lot. So many things good, but a few too many letdowns today and as a team I don't think we quite did the job we should have done, or good enough. But still lovely to be on the podium here at Silverstone.

"I'm not making the right decisions. I blame myself today for not making some of the right decisions. I hate it, I hate ending in this position and ever having excuses for not doing a good enough job. We'll come back stronger here next year and try again."

Former F1 star Martin Brundle believes Norris' mistake was caused by Ferrari's mechanics preparing for a pitstop of their own. He said in commentary on Sky Sports: "The Ferrari team were just coming out into the pitlane as Norris rocked up and I think that might have contributed to him going very long."

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