Lando Norris revealed that after the first practice day for the Hungarian GP he had ‘little confidence’ in McLaren’s chances. The Brit was so disappointed with the speed of the MCL40 that team principal Andrea Stella even challenged him to a bet. However, two days later Norris was on the top step of the podium. After the race weekend, he also spoke of ‘one of his best performances’ in Formula 1.
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Norris admitted in the official FIA press conference that he was not very optimistic on Friday. “Especially not after the first free practice,” he responded when asked if he believed on Friday evening that he had a car with which he could win. “Andrea (Stella, ed.) even wanted to make a bet with me because I was quite disappointed with the speed and handling of the car.” Although McLaren made progress in the second practice, Norris remained skeptical. “It went a bit better in FP2, but the Ferraris were just on another level, and I really did not expect us to get so close in qualifying.”
According to Norris, everything changed on Saturday when the wind shifted and the MCL40 came into its own much better. “But the wind changed from Friday to Saturday, and the wind on Saturday suited our car much better. We had much more confidence in the steering, so I could push harder.” This ultimately resulted in his first pole position of the year. “Then I definitely felt that I could also win the race.”
Norris easily kept up with Piastri
Although Oscar Piastri passed him at the start, Norris remained convinced of his own race pace. “It was probably one of my best performances, if you purely talk about driving the car.” He pointed out that he was able to follow his teammate at a short distance for almost forty laps. “The fact that I could do this gave me the confidence that I would win the race, no matter what happened, whether he made a pit stop early or late. The speed advantage I had was huge.”
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Norris does not attribute his turnaround to differences in equipment, but to the steps he himself has taken. “The cars are identical, but I just feel very strong lately. I have worked on many aspects compared to last year. Recently, I have much more confidence in how I can extract performance, and I have worked a lot with my engineers to really understand this car. It is certainly not an easy car to figure out, let alone to constantly drive at the limit.” How did Norris manage to score a win then? “Through hard work; from my engineers, but also from me as a driver.”
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