Lando Norris talks about getting into grips with the 2022 McLaren F1 car, as Andreas Seidl has praise for the Brit despite his health issues.
For McLaren, it has been a challenging start to the season, slightly up and down and has been indifferent in contrast to their 2021 campaign. Daniel Ricciardo has had a tough time to say the least so far but by contrast, Norris has done well, almost on a par with 2021, he has scored points in five out of the last six races including a podium at Imola.
Last week he took sixth place at Monaco and also took a point for fastest lap which is a tremendous fillip for the Bristol born driver. Like the other teams and drivers on the grid, he has had to adapt to new rules and regulations and new cars too and he is still getting to grips with the new machinery.
“I mean, I’m very happy with how I’m doing now,” said Norris. “I say I’m a little bit surprised how well I’ve done the last couple of weekends and with how I felt. But I’m understanding more and more about the car. It’s still a new car. It’s not just for Daniel. It’s not just for other people. It’s the same for everyone”.
“And there’s a lot of things I’ve had to try and readjust to this year. And I feel like I’m getting there now with that. Therefore, I feel like I can unlock a bit more pace from qualifying. I’m just understanding things more. So, it’s still a learning process for me. I’m still learning a lot of things. It’s not like because I’ve been with McLaren”.
“I know everything and everything works perfectly. It’s quite the opposite. It’s been a new car for me. It’s new tyres, new setups and new everything. So, in some ways, it’s still like a new fresh start for me. The new team and I have to reassess how I drive the car in some ways. I can’t drive how I want to in many ways”.
“You can see that with other drivers as well. You know how Charles has done much better this year, relative to Carlos. Carlos beat him last year. This year it just looks like Charles is in a much more comfortable position. Same with Perez. He is at a much better position compared to what he was last year”.
“So, there’s quite a few changes this year with the car. You’re seeing that evidently with drivers that is suiting some people more than others. It also takes time for everyone to understand all these things. I feel only like now so far into the season. I guess six, seven races, whatever it is that I’m finally coming to terms with understanding this,” summed up Norris.
Some teams and drivers have had it tough adapting to 2022 rules and regulations while some have not. For Norris, he had started off sluggishly, but now seems to have the bit between his teeth. Sixth in the standing last season and currently lying seventh a third of the way through the season, it certainly now appears that he is getting to grips with all changes for this season’s campaign.
Team Boss Seidl had praise for the progress from Norris, especially in the last two rounds where he was down with tonsillitis and still fought through in the Grand Prix to score good points. “Lando Norris is just blooming all season already,” he said when asked by FormulaRapida.net.
“It’s why we signed him for so many years, it’s confirming that he’s definitely something special. He has everything he needs in order to become a great one in this sport and that’s obviously great to see for me, as being in charge of the team and also how he pulled through these last two weekends with his illness as well was impressive”.
“Coming here, being on it really from the first run onwards very pleasing to see. Not putting a foot wrong throughout the race was again an outstanding performance and I’m just happy to have him in place within the team for many, many more years,” summed up Seidl.
Here’s Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo on how Monaco GP panned out
