Lando Norris says the last few weekends have been the strongest that he has had in his F1 career so far and he is not looking at what ifs.
The second of the F1 2023 season has been on point for McLaren’s Norris, who has scored the most points after Max Verstappen. He has been consistently on podium where small mistakes has cost him a chance of sprint win and fight for main race victory.
But overall, he has been closest to Verstappen on a consistent basis, more than the likes of Sergio Perez, Lewis Hamilton and or Charles Leclerc. And Norris himself sees the last few weekends as his strongest in his F1 career so far despite some mistakes.
He is not dwelling on those what ifs as such. “I know probably a bit more than what everyone sees, but my last few weekends have been very strong,” said Norris. “I probably say like the last four or five weekends have been my strongest in terms of absolute pace and extracting the maximum out of the car.
“I just made those silly little mistakes here and there in qualifying, whether it was Mexico or previous races. But a lot of these times the pace was probably some of my strongest and the best I’ve been driving, if it wasn’t for these little things. And, of course, then I’m disappointed at times and I always say I should have been on pole or I should have been second and there just have been a lot of should-have, would-have, could-haves, which I understand, but it’s because it’s the truth.
“I think in Brazil we proved it, but in sprint we probably should have been on pole if we did as good of a job. That same goes for us in Qatar. And the last two, three weekends, I feel like I’ve been on top of things a lot more. And I have felt very comfortable. There’s still a lot of things which I’m not comfortable with but I definitely feel most on top of the car than I ever have been.
“And some of that is figuring out weaknesses that I have with the car and just things that I’m struggling with. And some of it is just confidence and putting things together and executing laps and executing good races and things like that. So I don’t think it’s just this weekend or anything’s suddenly changed.
“But Brazil, Mexico, Suzuka, Texas, Qatar, I think all of these have been some very good races, very good performances, extremely good pace, probably in every single one but just a few too many of these little mistakes. And I think that’s why I’ve been disappointed, it’s when you’re missing out on a pole or P2.
“You feel like you’ve missed out on some very good opportunities. And we need it for the championship. We want it against Astons and things like that. So yeah, just some difficult moments and things I know I need to work on as a driver, but I know it and working on it,” summed up Norris.
Here’s Max Verstappen and Lando Norris on their mini fight
Here’s Oscar Piastri on Lap 1 incident
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