Lando Norris shouldered all the blame after narrowly missing out on the fight for Spanish Grand Prix victory.
The Briton started the race on pole after getting the better of Max Verstappen on Saturday. But it was the Red Bull man who took the chequered flag despite Norris bearing down on him for the final stages of the race.
McLaren took a strategy gamble which very nearly paid off, pitting Norris later than Verstappen on both stops so that he had a tyre advantage later on. The 24-year-old made the most of it but just ran out of laps to get the job done and finished just two seconds behind the championship leader.
In the end, it was his underwhelming start to the race which proved costly. Verstappen slightly got the jump on Norris and, while they were squabbling, George Russell swept around the outside of both to take an early lead.
Verstappen soon moved past the Mercedes but Norris got stuck behind his compatriot and lost a lot of time relative to the Dutchman, which was ultimately what made the difference. And the Mclaren driver knew it.
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After taking the chequered flag, he sounded disgusted with himself over the radio. He told his race engineer: "It doesn't matter does it? I should have won, I f***ed up the start. Car was amazing, deserved more."
He continued to point the finger at himself as he picked up the microphone for his post-race interview and said: "I should have done [better]. I got a bad start, simple as that. The car was incredible today and I think we were for sure the quickest, I just lost it in the beginning.
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris on track during the Spanish Grand Prix (Formula 1 via Getty Images)"So, yeah, disappointed but there are a lot of positives and one negative and that kind of ruined everything. I can just work on that for next time. But apart from that, a good amount of points and a big thanks to the team because the car was amazing.
"I don't know what I did wrong or if I was just slightly out. It was only a little bit that I lost to Max, it's not like he was completely alongside. But George was suddenly on the outside and had me over. Fair play, well done to Red Bull and Max, another job done for them. A shame that we lost here, so a bit frustrating, but we'll work on it for next time."
Norris is feeling positive about the next two circuits to come, though, and added: "Austria and Silverstone, two of my favourite tracks in terms of where I've performed well at. I'm excited, we're on a roll and have been doing well. I just need to tidy up a few little bits and we'll be on top."
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