Lando Norris thinks the value of experience should not be underestimated when it comes to the improvement a driver has made over the years.
Lando Norris began his F1 career in 2019 and had a difficult first few years. In 2020, he finished the championship at the ninth position while his then-teammate Carlos Sainz was up ahead at sixth.
However, in the 2021 campaign, Norris showed a major improvement in his driving. He finished the 2021 campaign in sixth place. He outperformed his teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who could only score enough points for eighth place.
Norris believes that the step up he made is just a case of how a driver grows over the years when he gets a few seasons on the track.
Yesterday we saw a commanding @DanielRicciardo performance as he and @LandoNorris went head to head in a quiz about McLaren’s history, with @FXPro…
Today, it’s all about our 2021 season. 👊 Who will come out on top this time? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/sdp3X2eDCD
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) December 21, 2021
He said, “I always hate to leave an excuse as lack of experience. Like saying ‘oh, I’m just not as experienced’ is such an easy thing to use and I’d hate to say lack of experience.”
“I hate having to say that sometimes, and I didn’t want to believe that having that break in the winter and coming back knowing everything a bit more subconsciously is going to make much difference.’
“But also, because I’ve never done more than one season in any category since starting in cadets, it was hard for me to know the differences through the years.”
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Lando Norris thinks Carlos Sainz gave him a hard time
The British driver feels that in the first two years of his F1 career, he was overshadowed by the performance of his then-teammate Carlos Sainz.
He explained, “I think my second year was good, but Carlos I believe is one of the best drivers in F1 and he didn’t make me look as good. Because he’s an extremely good driver and he did a very good job. So fair play to him.”
“I think I got shadowed a bit by him because he was doing an exceptional job. I think I’ve taken that next step, which would have been the same or maybe a bit better than him.”
Furthermore, Norris explained that his qualities upgraded also through a combination of understanding everything from the past few years. A fresh start with a new teammate and a better car made him confident.
Norris garnered four podium finishes and almost came close to victory at the Russian GP in 2021. However, he believes that there were a few challenges that he faced.
“I’m very happy at least with the progress I made from last season working on those weak areas,” he said. “I think I turned some of those into strengths. Some of them still need some work but overall, we’ve done a much better job.”
“We maximised every opportunity we had to get onto the podiums. To make the most of other people’s penalties and stuff. There’s definitely been a few places where I’ve made mistakes for sure, like Brazil, which was probably one of my biggest mistakes of the season.”
“It’s such a small thing but it cost us a good amount of points and a possible race with Ferrari and to be ahead of them in that race.”
“Maybe two or three other races where I just haven’t been on it. Maybe just one or two positions down, but I don’t think any of which has put me out. I’ve not had any proper big crashes which have cost me points I think,” he concluded.
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