Lando Norris blamed his poor start to the Spanish Grand Prix for losing victory in the race to Max Verstappen.
However the McLaren driver said he made the right call to back down as they approached turn one to avoid a multi-car crash.
Norris, Verstappen and George Russell ran side-by-side into the first corner. Russell took the lead as pole-winner Norris backed off and fell to third behind Verstappen.
Although Norris said losing the lead to Verstappen at the start ultimately cost him the win, he felt he had no choice but to cede the corner once Russell drew alongside them both.
“My initial launch, I think, was better than Max. The second phase, the drive out, was not as good. I don’t know anything more than that, apart from Max got alongside me.
“If George wasn’t there, I think I still could have kept first around turn one. But George had a run on both of us, so even if my start was one or two metres better – which I think was all I probably could have done – just the long run down to turn one, the slipstream [for] the Mercedes, on both Max and myself, was more than anything that I could have done.
“I almost think George would have led no matter what, even if my start was two metres better. In some ways, that’s what happens in Barcelona. George got a good start and I couldn’t do anything about that.”
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The McLaren driver believes all three would have crashed had he not backed off. “I had to take third in turn two because if I braked two metres later, I think I would have taken everyone out with me. I made the correct decision of backing out and letting George have it.”
Norris added he will “sit down with my engineers and talk” about their approach to the corner later.
Verstappen said the three drivers handled the situation well. “I think the first launch was quite okay, and then I got a little bit alongside [Norris]. I had to go a little bit on the grass.
“But then I think George had a double slipstream and had a good run around the outside, which he managed really well. And I think the three of us managed everything really well into turn one.”
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