Lando Norris jets in for Indy 500 celebrations with Daniel Ricciardo after brutal F1 Canadian GP
Lando Norris hung out with Daniel Ricciardo at the Indy 500 after a brutal Canadian Grand Prix.
Formula 1 world champion Lando Norris quickly put the disappointment of a bruising Canadian Grand Prix behind him by joining in with celebrations after the Indy 500.
Norris had a day to forget in Montreal after McLaren’s decision to gamble by starting the race on intermediate tyres backfired, before he was later forced to retire with gearbox trouble on a day the reigning world champion team scored zero points.
The Briton wasted no time wallowing on the miserable end to the weekend and jetted off to Indianapolis, where he met up with friends including former McLaren F1 team-mate Daniel Ricciardo and IndyCar driver Conor Daly to take part in post-race celebrations after the Indy 500.
Norris made the trip to hang out with Daly and Ricciardo, a story on Daly’s Instagram account revealed.
“Just a couple guys celebrating the Indy500 @DanielRicciardo @Lando,” Daly, who crossed the line 12th in the 110th running of the Indy 500 at the world-famous Brickyard.
The race was won by Felix Rosenqvist after the closest finish in Indy 500 history following a dramatic last-lap battle for glory.
Rosenqvist took his maiden Indy 500 win by just 0.0232 seconds after passing David Malukas on the drag to the line.
The race featured 70 lead changes in total, a record for the event which is dubbed ‘greatest spectacle in racing’.
It was an 800-mile trip from Montreal to Indianapolis for Norris, while Ricciardo was enjoying his first Indy 500 as a fan.
Norris defends McLaren tyre gamble
Despite the disappointment, Norris defended McLaren’s strategy, insisting there was logic behind the call.
"Probably just on the warm-up lap, I think the rain already stopped a little bit by then, so, yeah, it was the wrong decision in hindsight,” Norris admitted.
“Obviously, it was good for a lap and kept me out of trouble, and so easily things could have happened behind, and I would have looked much better, but it was the wrong decision in the end.
"But I don't think through any bad decision-making. There were valid reasons for doing what we did. I'm happy we went for something and stuck to it. It doesn't work out sometimes, that's the way it is, so we take it on the chin, and we learn from it.”
Norris took the lead at the start but had to make an early pit stop as the track dried out following pre-race rain showers and plummeted down the order.
"I just had a lot more grip, as simple as that, honestly," Norris said of his start. "It shows how slippery it was for them in the beginning, and I had a two-second gap after one lap, so it wasn't like it was stupid to be on that tyre... It was just drying out, and of course, when they got a bit of temperature into the tyres, it worked out for them.
"Like 1% more rain or a few little bits of drizzle here or there, and it really would have suited us a lot more. So, that happens sometimes and nothing really went our way today. I don't think our pace was going to be exceptional either way with the temperatures we had, and we ended with a DNF, so just a bit unlucky."
The retirement leaves Norris fifth in the championship with 58 points. He is already 73 points behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli after five rounds.
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