“Of course I’ll miss him” – Lando Norris spoke about friendship as he bid farewell to McLaren teammate Carlos Sainz, the latter making the dream move to Ferrari.
If there was a ‘team chemistry of the year’ award, it will go to McLaren, hands down. Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz have been brilliant together, on and off the racing track. And it is a true testament of their friendship that catapulted them to third in the Constructors Standings on the last day of the season. Speaking to the official F1 website, Norris paid tribute to their partnership as he bid farewell to Sainz, who is making his dream move to Ferrari.
“One of the most important things in achieving P3 this year was the combination of good mates and good friendship but also how much we are competitive and how much we want to beat each other.”
“When you put both of them together, it’s the perfect combination to get P3. There have been a lot of races this year where we have executed things well as a team. Between us, we have scored much better results because of that.
“Of course I’ll miss him. We have had a lot of good moments together and fun times and a pleasure to learn from him.”
McLaren F1 CEO Zak Brown calls it a “true team effort”
McLaren was on the verge of pulling out before the season started before investment from Bahrain saved them. Despite that, they kicked off their season in brilliant fashion, Lando Norris taking his first-ever F1 podium, at Austria.
With a double-points finish at Abu Dhabi, McLaren managed to finish third overall, overtaking Racing Point. This was not all, with a multi-million investment from a US investor being the icing on the cake. McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown congratulated the entire team for their incredible effort throughout the season.
“It’s been a very difficult season in the public spotlight, some of our challenges. To bring the investment in this weekend, the job Lando and Carlos have done, the job all the men and women have done.
“This is a third place, a true team effort. It was a bit stressful on the pit wall, it might have looked like a boring race for Lando and Carlos, but it was very exciting for the team.”
