Lando Norris - ‘This was definitely my best season’

• F1

Lando Norris says that last season in Formula 1 was definitely his best after he completely overshadowed his more experienced teammate Daniel Ricciardo and with his results kept McLaren fighting for third place in the constructors' standings.

Since the first race in Bahrain, Lando Norris has imposed himself as the closest companion to Red Bull and Mercedes drivers, spending the first half of the season in third or fourth place while after 12 of 22 races he held third place behind Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

It was only in the 16th race of the season in Austin that Lando Norris dropped to fifth place, and two races before the end in Saudi Arabia he dropped to a sixth place where he finished the season after being overtaken in Abu Dhabi by former teammate Carlos Sainz at Ferrari while Norris overtook Leclerc.

After two very good first seasons in Formula 1 in 2019 and 2020, Lando Norris took an extra step forward in the third season, overshadowing Daniel Ricciardo in qualifying (15: 7) and in races in which he finished on the podium four times, with a pole position in Russia.

“This was definitely, I would say, my best season which is always a good thing because it was only my third season,” Norris said. "I think I achieved a lot, did a good job for the team, and was there when we had the opportunity for podiums and points, which extended the fight with Ferrari as long as we could." "I think for me, but also for the team, this has been a very good year and we should be happy with what we have done."

Lando Norris and his impact

Although McLaren lost a fight with Ferrari who had a much better last third of the season, Norris believes the year-round fight has had a positive impact on their development.

"I'd say it helped a lot," Norris said. "It's that mentality as they hold us on their toes and press us, trying to find the tiniest bit of time in a lap." “It was definitely a good thing for us, it’s probably the same thing for those who haven’t had an easy year.

I think it helped both of them. But for sure, I would say that this was a difficult season. " "I still think we had a much better season than 2020, we were closer to the top, and the advantage over the rest of the middle of the standings was also much bigger." McLaren finished third in 2020, one place better than in 2021, but in 2021 they scored more points per race (12.5) than in 2020 (11.9), were closer to Mercedes and Red Bull and won first pole position ) and victory (Monza) since 2012. Lando Norris could achieve even better result next season