Norris Reflects On 'Definitely Toughest Race' He Has Ever Done

Tuesday, 10 October 2023 at 08:57

Updated at Tuesday, 02 January 2024 at 20:34

McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris shared his perspective of the race in the post-2023 Qatar Grand Prix interview.

Lando Norris fell victim to track limit violations on Friday Qualifying, which resulted in all his time in Q3 being deleted. Consequently, the number 4 driver started the race from the 10th place on the grid.

After the start, Norris chose the inside line into the first right-hand turn. This decision helped Norris gain two positions in a matter of 2 corners. Norris reflected in the post-race interview:

"Just a great race. Good start made up for my [mistake from yesterday]. Yesterday, I went wide in turn 1... turned out to be the incorrect thing to do. Today I went tight and it worked out perfectly so great start led to a good race."

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After Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell collided in the first turn, the battle for the first position was basically only between McLaren drivers and Max Verstappen. Norris was satisfied with the pace of his car.

"The pace was excellent, probably good enough to keep up with Max. Just lost a lot in traffic, and as soon as you get within a couple seconds, your life gets a lot more difficult."

McLaren cars had a competitive pace as both Norris and second place Oscar Piastri finished within six seconds of the race winner Max Verstappen. After fighting his way through the field, Norris caught up with Piastri. However, he wasn’t able to overtake the Australian.

"The pace was great, I was behind Oscar, just couldn’t get close enough in the dirty air. Good fun, actually I would say definitely the toughest race I’ve done physically."

Multiple drivers have said the 2023 Grand Prix has been the toughest race in their career. Very hot and humid conditions made it even tougher than the famously challenging Singapore Grand Prix.

McLaren's team keeps collecting the valuable points, catching up with Aston Martin rapidly. The point gap came down to 11 points in the fight for the Constructors’ Championship after the Qatar Grand Prix, proving to Fernando Alonso that the team is not ‘overconfident’ in their pace.