Lando Norris feels that his team was just unlucky with issues out of their control towards the closing stages of 2021.
Norris had an amazing start to the 2021 F1 season. The McLaren driver finished on the podium four times, with the best result of his young career coming at Monza. At the Italian GP, Norris finished 2nd behind teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
Ricciardo and Norris earned McLaren their first 1-2 finish since 2010. Everything seemed to be going right for the team from Woking in their bid to finish 3rd in the Constructors’ Championship.
However, ever since they left the paddock in Lombardy, things have gone downhill for them and Norris in particular. The best position Norris could secure following the highs of Monza was the 7th pace.
He did so on three different occasions; in Sochi, Turkey and at the season finale in Abu Dhabi. A late tyre puncture at Yas Island last week saw the young Briton tumble down the order.
He was in contention for 3rd place in that race, which ultimately fell in the way of his former teammate Carlos Sainz. After the Abu Dhabi GP, the 22-year-old shared his thoughts on what has been a brutal end to 2021.
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Hasn’t been the second half of the season McLaren wanted, says Lando Norris
Norris started by admitting his mistakes in situations where he could have gotten valuable points for his team. “Of course. I’ve made a couple of mistakes, Brazil for me the big one, that cost me,” he said to Motorsport.com.
“But apart from there, we’ve just been very unlucky with the punctures, with problems and incidents, whatever. Just hasn’t been the second half of the season we wanted. We deserved a lot more. I think the team have done a much better job than it looks like.”
“And I feel like I’ve done a much better job than what it looks like, we just been unlucky, that’s all. But I think I’m still very happy with how I’ve done. Things for me to improve on again, but I’m happy, it’s still been my most successful season.” he added.
After their brutal ending, McLaren gave up 3rd place in the Constructor’s standings to Ferrari. The Italian team finished with 323.5 points compared to McLaren’s 275.
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