Only Max Verstappen has scored better than Lando Norris in the last three Formula 1 weekends. But Norris does not necessarily assume that he will be able to continue his series of three podium finishes in a row before the 2023 USA Grand Prix in Austin. He was “not so confident,” said Norris in the press conference.
Reason: According to Norris, different signs apply in Austin than in Lusail. “Qatar was a track that we knew would suit us with a lot of medium-fast and fast passages. At times we were on par with Red Bull there.”
“It’s different here. It’s more about slow passages. That’s why I’m not so confident. But I’m not saying it’s going to be a bad weekend either. We can still fight, but we’ll probably have to fight a little harder than last time,” said the McLaren driver. He is therefore anticipating a “difficult” event.
With what expectations Norris goes into qualifying
And what does Norris expect from qualifying, especially since the sprint format is also used in Austin? In Lusail he had bad experiences with this and made costly mistakes in both qualifying sessions.
Now Norris says: “I won’t do much differently.”
“What it [in Katar] made it even worse: I could have been on pole in both cases, at least for that [Sprint am] Saturday, maybe not for Sunday. In the worst case scenario, I would have had to be first and second. When I think about what could have been and how good our race pace was on Sunday, I think of a missed opportunity on my part.”
“On the other hand,” says Norris, he has already competed in “many races” in the 2023 Formula 1 season without making any mistakes and crowned it with “good performances”. “But of course it’s always the bad races that come back on the table.”
“So yes: I made mistakes and that frustrated me. But it continues now, because things like that happen. And I’m just trying to avoid something like that in the future.”
Norris will be competing in a Formula 1 Grand Prix for the 100th time
And the near future holds a special milestone for Norris in Austin: his 100th Grand Prix participation in Formula 1.
Norris says he is “pretty proud” of it. “Not many people achieve something like that. Even many drivers who make it into Formula 1 don’t make it. And I want to stay there for a long time. That’s my next goal.”
Norris joined Formula 1 at McLaren in the 2019 season and will be driving for his fifth year in the traditional British team in 2023. “In this [Zeit] There were many ups and downs, but also good memories and great successes. It’s been a nice journey so far,” he says.
Norris is pushing for his first Formula 1 victory
This is followed by the question about his best races, to which Norris initially has no answer. Then he says: “The obvious ones are the ones I finished on the podium. The first pole position, the first podium result in Formula 1, of course you always remember things like that, even though they weren’t necessarily the best races.”
Norris classifies the McLaren double victory with Daniel Ricciardo at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix in Monza as “special”. “Purely in terms of results,” as he says.
“This year we have a lot of good races and are doing well. Silverstone was probably the highlight as my home race,” explains Norris. But he wants to create new “best memories” as soon as possible and “overwrite the previous ones with his first victory”.