Lando Norris says the current purple patch he is having in F1 is his best in his whole career by miles, even going beyond his junior championship days.
Norris has shown multitudes of talent this season, winning the hearts of both his team and fans. He has consistently managed points positions and has finished in the Top 5 positions in nearly every race. Eagle eyed fans could have seen this coming, only because Norris’ performance in previous F1 seasons has also been something to boast about.
In 2020, the Brit finished his season in an impressive ninth place, a step up from his 11th place drivers’ championship finish in 2019. This year however, he has been in the Top 5 all-through the season. When asked about whether the current purple patch is the best in terms of performance and results, taking in junior performances, the Brit noted this to be the best by miles, especially on the consistency side.
“I would say this has probably been my best by quite a long way mainly just from the consistency side of it,” said Norris, when asked by FormulaRapida.net. “Talking about qualifying, there was only really Barcelona, which was an off event for me, the rest of them have been pretty good and I don’t think I’ve had that in probably any other series.
“My best one before this was Formula 4 or Formula Renault probably more like Formula 4 just in my consistency in the qualifying side of it, I think qualifying side the Top 2 all season but yeah this year what’s been good, is both my qualifying consistency and more importantly the race consistency, so definitely my best that I’ve had in my career,” summed up Norris.
For reference, in the ADAC Formula 4 Championship, Norris scored six podiums from eight starts. One of those podiums was a win. In the British Formula 4, Norris scored fifteen podiums from thirty races, along with eight wins and ten pole laps. Put together, Norris’ stats in Formula 4 stand as one of his best so far, beaten only by his 2021 F1 season.
In it, he has had three podium finishes, although he has also managed points position finishes in every race except Hungary, where he crashed out. This has kept Norris third in the drivers’ championship, a sure sign of more achievements to come. His other junior championships after F4 has been solid too.
He’s not won championships in Formula Renault, but also Toyota Racing Series and even the European F3 series. The only miss came in F2, where he finished second to George Russell. And now, with the McLaren team only getting better, and Norris growing more experienced, one could say that the purple patch is likely to extend even further.
The story was written by Neeladri Nag
Here’s McLaren detailing on Daniel Ricciardo’s troubles
Here’s news on McLaren in IndyCar
Here’s Andreas Seidl on F1 Cost Cap
