Lando Norris is very happy with the fantastic race for McLaren in Imola, which he finished in third place, and he thinks he drove very well, but he says that the most important thing is that the team progresses and that they are constantly working on improving the car.
McLaren was the favorite for third place in the constructors’ standings before the 2021 F1 season, and after two races they fully justified that status, although both Ferrari and AlphaTauri were faster in qualifying in both Bahrain and Imola.
Norris should have been ahead of Leclerc and Gasly and even Verstappen in Imola qualifying if his last Q3 lap wasn’t deleted as he went wide in the Piratella, but even from seventh place Norris was very competitive and made his way to the podium.
He was helped in this by teammate Ricciardo who let him past in the lap 17 to give the team the best possible result, and Norris lived up to expectations and finished third after he was second in the closing stages.
“Obviously very happy to get a podium,” said Norris.
“A very well-executed race from the team and from myself. I think I drove very well – I made a lot of good decisions – but it wasn’t easy.”
“The beginning of the race was pretty tough. A bit of contact here and there, not a perfect start but I kept my head cool. I kept focused throughout because sometimes you know you’ve got to expect the red flags and the Safety Cars and think that more opportunities can come towards you later in the race.”
“So, I kept that in mind and solidly came back through.”
“There were a couple of people crashing and making mistakes ahead of me, which is what we’re here to take advantage of, and then we made a good decision at the end to go onto the Soft tyres and get ahead of Leclerc.”
“We almost held on to P2 but not quite. It was a tough race, but very rewarding for myself and more importantly for the team, so a big thanks to them for bringing new parts, and working so hard on the car back at the factory to make it better every weekend.”
Norris is third in the drivers’ standings after this race with 27 points, 16 points behind Verstappen and 17 points behind Hamilton.
