– It is no secret that World Champion Lando Norris had hoped for a significantly better start to the season: The McLaren driver only finished fifth at the opener in Australia and was unable to even start the Chinese Grand Prix due to technical problems.
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Even at the third round of the season in Japan, the 26-year-old Briton struggled with his McLaren MCL40 and once again crossed the finish line only in fifth place. Why is that? “I don’t feel as comfortable in the car as I would like to yet,” Norris explains in an interview with Sky UK.
“That’s not meant to be an excuse, but it’s also because I haven’t driven much so far,” adds the current Formula 1 World Champion. “Many situations I found myself in, whether regarding tire wear or the battery, I had to solve during the race instead of trying it out on Friday or something.”
Lando Norris struggles with technical problems
As a reminder: Norris was only able to start the first free practice in Suzuka with a delay and was also confronted with various problems in the second practice. In the third free practice on Saturday, the battery finally had to be changed again.
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This is also why Norris was around three-tenths of a second behind his teammate Oscar Piastri in the subsequent qualifying, who led for a long time in Sunday’s race and ultimately finished only second, partly due to an unfavorable safety car.
For Norris, the podium was out of the question. “It was still a good race from me,” the McLaren driver summarizes. “I think it was just small things, half a tenth here, a tenth there, half a tenth there. So it’s not too late in the weekend to learn from it.”
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“These are good signs, but there are always things that I and the team can work on,” says Norris, who wants to work “on a lot” during the upcoming break. “If we are a bit stronger together and I feel more confident, I am very confident that we can be at the top again.”
McLaren Team Principal admits: Norris put under pressure
Team Principal Andrea Stella is also convinced of this. “Lando drove a good race,” the Italian praises. “It was good that he was still in shape at the end to overtake Lewis Hamilton. We said [on Saturday] it would be good if we could fight with Ferrari, and we managed that.”
Overall, the conclusion is therefore positive, says Stella, even though Norris was inferior to his teammate throughout the entire weekend. “I have to say that Lando was put under some pressure by the team because we had some problems in practice,” the Italian adds.
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“He had limited opportunities,” the team principal recalls, categorizing the current results as an exception. “I don’t think he had ever driven two laps in a row before the race. So well done, Lando. Important points for the team.”
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