Norris Avoided 'Two Extremely Big Crashes' And Calls For 'More Self-Awareness' From Drivers

Thursday, 02 November 2023 at 11:00

Updated at Thursday, 02 November 2023 at 12:26

McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris had an amazing race last Sunday In Mexico City, but he mentioned he had to avoid two "extremely big crashes."

Lando Norris, who started the race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez from P17, managed to finish the race in P5 despite the tough conditions for management that all the drivers faced in their overheating cars.

His team principal, Andrea Stella, said it was one of the best races he has ever been part of in his career. Norris himself admitted after the race it was one of his best performances in Formula One.

On the other hand, the 23-year-old could have finished even better had he not lost four positions at the race restart, as he had to go on the breaks to avoid getting squeezed in between two cars.

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The McLaren driver said after the race he thoroughly enjoyed it, but pointed out he probably avoided a "very big crash" when he lost those four positions.

"I enjoyed the whole thing, apart from my restart. I don’t know if you saw it, but I probably had to avoid a very big crash."

Race starts, and restarts can get messy, with some drivers getting better and worse starts. Drivers move across the track to find space for themselves, and that can lead to collisions.

"Just people coming across, not probably realizing that people can be three-abreast. So I avoided two extremely big crashes, one would have been very nasty. So a bit more self-awareness of some drivers would be great."

Norris did not give up despite these obstacles and managed to overtake his teammate Oscar Piastri, who started the race in seventh place. The 23-year-old added:

"That’s not why I lost out, I lost out because of a bad start, and I lost out even more because of these things, but the pace was amazing."