Lando Norris walked away from the Miami Grand Prix with mixed emotions but is happy to be back fighting for wins.
The reigning champion looked on course to back up Saturday's sprint victory with another win in Sunday’s 57-lap race on the streets around Hard Rock Stadium – where he won his first F1 race in 2024.
But championship leader Kimi Antonelli and Mercedes used the pit stops to jump Norris for the lead and the Italian was able to hold on as Norris had to settle for second.
The weekend has been a major step forward for McLaren, whose upgrades appear to have worked and put them back in contention at the front of the grid after a tough start to the season.
Norris is 49 points off Antonelli’s lead in fourth, thanks in no small part to a mechanical issue which meant he was unable to start the Chinese Grand Prix.
Having converted sprint pole into a win over the 19-lap dash and been leading midway through the main race, Norris is happy to be able to mix it with Mercedes.
But he also rued the pit-stop strategy which cost McLaren victory.
"I think I’m very happy with the situation we are in which was fighting for a win today," Norris said.
"A sprint pole, the sprint win, when I look at it from that side it has been a very strong weekend.
"There are a lot of positives. The fact we made such a big step this weekend is great to see and the work that has been put in has paid off immediately.
"You always have to ask the question of whether we maximised everything and I am unsure about that.
"I feel like there was a chance that we could have fought better for that. Letting him undercut us, we should have just never been in that situation in the first place.
"He might have still passed me but at least we would have given ourselves a fighting chance, so a little bit disappointed by that."
Norris will head for the next race in Montreal in three weeks’ time in confident mood but expects Mercedes – who will be bringing their own upgrades – to be tough to beat.
"I am certainly confident about the future. We improved so much this weekend but this is a track that suits us," he added.
"I always look at things on the glass half empty side. This is a track which suits us and we are going to a track which Mercedes have been the best at over the last five or six years.
"There’s no point getting ahead of ourselves."
