Carlos Sainz may have enjoyed the glory of extending McLaren’s advantage in the race for fourth place in the constructors’ championship in Monaco – but the Spaniard owes a debt of gratitude to team mate Lando Norris for helping him secure a top-six finish. A Safety Car on lap 10 triggered pit stops for the whole top six. But while the first four cars were able to pit and stay at the head of the field (albeit in a changed order), Daniel Ricciardo and Kevin Magnussen – who were running fifth and sixth - dropped down the pack, promoting Sainz up to sixth. Norris, meanwhile, who like his team mate stayed out, was promoted to tenth, but he subsequently struggled for pace, in the process enabling Sainz to build a gap that allowed him to pit and emerge ahead of those who might have otherwise challenged him for position.

Lando Norris: 'We had decent pace' today in what was a fun race

“The whole race we didn’t have the best pace to be honest,” said rookie Norris, who ended up finishing 11th, just behind Ricciardo on track. “I grained the fronts on the first lap of the race just with being behind so many people and being on the harder tyre, not being able to turn it on as well as the top teams, the faster teams. It compromised me a lot in the first stint, and therefore I didn’t have a lot of pace. I think in the car we had a decent amount of pace but just the graining limited us a lot. “At the point we knew where I couldn’t do anything special it was turned more into a team game and I had to try and help Carlos and the team try and get a better result rather than just focusing on my own race. “So that made it a bit more difficult, but I still did the best I could and at the end of the day if I didn’t make one or two mistake that I did, maybe a P10 was possible for myself but not much more.”

MONTE CARLO, MONACO - MAY 26: Lando Norris, McLaren MCL34, and Carlos Sainz Jr., McLaren MCL34, arrive on the grid during the Monaco GP at Monte Carlo on May 26, 2019 in Monte Carlo, Monaco. (Photo by Zak Mauger / LAT Images)