“Everyone knows they’re going to be quick”- Lando Norris on Mercedes always bouncing back to win the season after poor pre-season tests.
Lando Norris talks about Mercedes having an underwhelming outing in Bahrain, but he feels that eventually, his rival side would bounce back to win the world title.
This is not the first time Mercedes has shown problems during the pre-season testing, and eventually, they have managed to dominate everyone over the past few years.
“It’s always the same with testing Mercedes looked terrible over the last few days and maybe not quite as comfortable as what they have done over the last few years,” The British driver said.
“The last few years, they’ve been slow [in testing], but everyone knows they’re going to be quick. But the last few days, they just looked like they struggled or made some more mistakes here and there. Maybe not quite as comfortable.”
Daniel Ricciardo mentorship
Norris this year is paired with multiple Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo, who has replaced Carlos Sainz, as the latter went to Ferrari. The Brit is excited to have Ricciardo, as he aspires to learn from him.
“I only see it as a positive. He’s a guy who can win races, and he can score podiums. It’s good for me, I can learn from him, but also it’s going to be a different way of working with him compared to how I worked with Carlos in terms of helping the team out and working together as team-mates rather than the way I used to work things with Carlos.”
Ricciardo also had his first running with McLaren in Bahrain and had a decent output. At the end of his session, he gave a shoutout to his countrymen, as Australia was set to host the first Grand Prix of the season, but it got pushed due to the COVID-19 concerns.
Good on ya @danielricciardo 👊
The Aussie driver sent his warmest regards back home to the land Down Under 🇦🇺#F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/DfEii0OF3z
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 14, 2021