Lando Norris suffered from tonsillitis in F1 Spanish GP and still finished in points as Andreas Seidl praises his drive and hopes he will be there for Monaco.
A fighting drive by McLaren’s Norris netted eighth place and 4 points. It had been noted that the Brit had been unwell over the weekend but the true extent of his ailments came to light after the race where after medical checks (which caused him to miss post race media sessions) it was discovered he had tonsillitis.
It was a gripping drive from 11th to eighth where teammate Daniel Ricciardo in the sister McLaren was only 12th. For Norris, it became even harder due to the weather conditions plus post-race he noted he missed several meetings to discuss things.
“It was tough,” said Norris. “I was feeling really unwell before the race as I’m suffering with tonsillitis, and that, in combination with the high temperatures, made this one of the hardest races I’ve ever done. I’ve been a bit on the back-foot this weekend as most of my energy has been spent fighting off this illness”.
“I’ve had to miss a lot of engineering sessions, which has compromised my weekend, and I definitely wasn’t as prepared for the Grand Prix as I could have been. With that in mind, I’m really pleased to have come out of the race with decent points for the team,” summed up Norris.
The fact that Norris made the start at all is testimony to the guy and to net decent points too. Noticeably he was more exhausted than usual after the race, he was thus examined by the McLaren team doctor. With the jewel in the crown next Sunday, both McLaren and Norris himself will be hoping for a clean bill of health.
With the Monaco Grand Prix weekend just four days away, McLaren and Norris will be hoping he can make a swift and full recovery and team boss Seidl had full praise for the Brit. “Obviously, you’re not feeling well all weekend when your energy levels are low with the tonsillitis he was suffering from,” he said to media including FormulaRapida.net.
“It was a very challenging race this afternoon, especially in these hot temperatures as well. So he was pretty flat at the end of the race and after the race, but thanks to the great medical support here within the team that he has around him. The objective is clear now the next days. We need to make sure he has some good rest the next four days before we then go again in Monaco”.
“As a team and for myself, I can’t thank him enough for battling through and he showed a great fighting spirit because in the end it enabled us to score these four points today and yeah, it was just great to see the commitment from his side but at the same time it’s also clear we obviously have a doctor involved in decisions like that and we would never risk the health of Lando, just to be clear on that as well”.
“But after the doctor gave the green light today and after on Lando’s side it was clear that he would give it a go, we went for it,” summed up Seidl. With Monaco next up and a small period of rest for the Brit, should he not be able to race, McLaren do have a contingency plan in a number of reserve drivers, Oscar Piastri, Nyck de Vries, Stoffel Vandoorne or Paul Di Resta but they are giving him time to recover.
“With the medical support we’re having as well and with having the possibility now to rest for four days I’m hopeful that Lando will be fit but as you know we have different options in terms of reserve drivers prepared which we can pull in case of an emergency but again we’re quite hopeful that Lando will be cleared again next Friday at the latest,” said Seidl.
Here’s how F1 Spanish GP panned out
