“I think the time has come for a qualitative leap”- Lando Norris’ honeymoon period at McLaren is over

“I think the time has come for a qualitative leap”- McLaren expects Lando Norris to make an immense rise in his output from this season.

Lando Norris has been given a considerable amount of space to make mistakes and learn under McLaren’s current flagship, recognising the Briton is still amidst his formative years and has potential.

And because of this thought, McLaren has managed to make Norris a confident competitor who played an influencing role in Mclaren’s P3 finish in 2020.

However, stepping into 2021, McLaren expects larger returns from Norris, even though they understand that he may often get overshadowed by Daniel Ricciardo’s veteran typer performances. Yet, a return to the investment has to be seen.

“In the race, however, he can do more. This will be his third year. It is clear that Daniel Ricciardo has much more experience than him, but I think the time has come for a qualitative leap.”

“Lando is no longer a rookie, so I expect him to push to the limit throughout the year. And I believe that having Daniel by his side as a teammate can help him in this regard,” said Brown.

Lando Norris seems to be prepared.

Norris’s immense pool of potential was observable in the first race of 2020 itself. He bagged his first podium during the Austrian Grand Prix, followed by an impressive spell of performances.

Hardly he ever ended up out of points position in 2020, and this happened because, in 2019, he wasn’t pressured for his position nor during last year.

The 21-year-old race driver has admitted that in 2019, it was hard for him to calm his nerves which affected his mental health. But coming into 2020 he was calmer. Therefore, significant growth is expected from him this year.

F1 is a fiercely cut-throat competition, and teams often don’t show patience even with young drivers, so in this case, Norris has been fortunate, though not dismissing the fact that Norris himself hardly gave a chance to complain and remain reliable.

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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