"I just lost it," admits McLaren's Lando Norris after first corner error, whilst battling Lewis Hamilton, drops pole-sitter to seventh.

It was the perfect opportunity to echo teammate Oscar Piastri's Sprint win in Qatar, but instead Norris threw it all by going wide into the opening corner.

Slow away on the formation lap, meaning that Lewis Hamilton had to slow in order to allow him to retake the lead, the seven-time world champion also had the edge at the Sprint start.

Though Norris caught him, by the time they entered the opening corner Hamilton had the inside line and was able to force the McLaren driver wide.

However, Norris went out on to the dirty part of the track edge and in the process lost several positions, only making up a place when Fernando Alonso subsequently retired.

"Tough race, and not what we were hoping for," he admitted post-race. "But we got a few points... definitely more points were up for grabs, but obviously a few mistakes cost me.

"I just lost it," he continued, "nothing else to say. Obviously we tried to keep it on the outside, but with this tarmac, I ran a little bit wide, coldish tyres and I just lost the rear.

"A shame, but it happens," he added. "I feel like they were quicker than us, but not a lot," he said of Mercedes. "I feel like we probably would have ended up in a similar position anyway, but Lewis ended up a lot further ahead.

"Our pace was pretty poor, then we picked up a bit of damage at the end. A bit frustrating. But anyway, I think we struggled a lot with our pace. I was just hanging on with the DRS otherwise I would have dropped back massively."

"Lando certainly doesn't need to apologise, but he knows he could have done better," team boss Andrea Stella subsequently told Sky Sports. "Don't worry Lando, you haven't disappointed the team!

"It just gives us a sense of the kind of person he is, like he has disappointed the team," he added. "We appreciate the maximum effort and work as a team.

"We need to give you a better car, and then things will become much easier rather than always being on the limit to bring important results. It's more up to us, the men and women at McLaren, who are working hard to improve the car."

"I obviously got a great start and had the inside line," said Hamilton. "He tried to hold the outside line and was just pushing to the maximum.

"I used everything to try to hold onto the position, and eventually, he got on the dirt on the outside. There is a point where, if you go a little bit too far, there is no grip out there.

"In that scenario, he should have just conceded and just parked up behind me. He probably would have had the pace to overtake me later.

"We're still not as quick, I think, on a single lap, as obviously the Ferraris, the Red Bulls and I think the McLarens are ahead of us for sure," said the seven-time world champion. "Possibly the Astons. We're probably very close, maybe, to the Astons but we'll see today.

"I don't anticipate we'll be fighting for the front row," he said of qualifying. "But the fortunate thing is we can make some adjustments so hopefully I can improve the car in the next three hours and hopefully have a better qualifying session than we have had in the past."

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