Lando Norris partied in Monte Carlo last night as a proud winner – but admitted taking pole position on Saturday had meant more to him. The Brit locked up his tyres at the first corner but fended off and barely broke a sweat from there to win another processional Monaco race.
"It feels amazing. It's a long, gruelling race, but good fun," he smiled. "[Qualifying] was a big part of winning the race – it was a big moment for me, it was a big achievement to be on pole in Monaco and it obviously set me up for the race today.
"It was a well-controlled race. There were many opportunities for things to happen, but the team and I handled things well and we won in Monaco! It's been a long time, and my mum and dad are here. It was special. It's been a big weekend for myself personally, but a big one for us as a team."
is now three points behind team-mate in the standings, having lost ground to the Aussie in recent weeks. His racecraft has not been under question but the Brit has left a lot on the table in qualifying, which is what made his Monaco pole so satisfying.
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Norris added: "[Saturday] was a big day for me and I was probably more emotional yesterday getting pole than I am today winning the race. That's how much more yesterday meant, in a way. But both are great, good for me, my confidence and our motivation and momentum as a team."
Norris held off who was denied back-to-back victories in his homeland. "At the end of the day, we lost the race yesterday and we should have done a better job," the rueful driver said. "Lando did a better job this weekend and he deserves to win. I realised my childhood dream last year.
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"This year... I thought that being in the top 10 would be a challenge, but in the end we are second and very close to P1. It's been a good weekend overall, but I wish I won." Forcing all cars to make two stops did nothing to make the race any more interesting. It just allowed some drivers to deliberately slow others to help team-mates.
That hampered others like who was punished for cutting a chicane in anger at being held up by . He finished pointless and said wetting the track might be the only way to spice up a "pretty silly" race. , who finished fourth, joked that fitting cars with Mario Kart-style banana shooters would make it more fun.
was one of the few drivers to make up places but said: "I was kind of in the middle of nowhere. With the penalty I started seventh, was behind two cars for some time and when I managed to clear them, I was in no man's land after that.
"The gap was relatively big and I was really not racing anyone. I needed a safety car or something to come into play, but it didn't happen. I didn't know what I was fighting for. But when I look at the actual data I wasn't anywhere near any of the guys up front. At least we went forward."
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