Can the outstanding F1 player of 2021 keep up his performance?

After an impressive start to the 2021 Formula 1 season, Lando Norris is currently splitting the dominance of Mercedes and Red Bull in the early drivers’ standings. While the McLaren driver downplayed the likelihood of holding that position, his team remains optimistic that his form can lead to greater success

The 2021 Formula 1 season could hardly have started better for Lando Norris, who is third in the world championship three races in the season.

The McLaren youngster finished fourth, third and fifth at the opening events and so far has only been beaten by drivers from the Mercedes and Red Bull teams.

He also overtook Sergio Perez in the first two races and was way ahead of Valtteri Bottas when the Finn retired at Imola, a race in which he was also able to hold back the recovering Lewis Hamilton for a few laps before claiming the second F1 podium secured his career.

In other words, he has achieved as much as any driver on a team outside of the two front runners could hope for – he led the chase and was able to take advantage if one of the top four guys did something wrong.

That Norris consistently outperforms all other “midfield” runners, including his own team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, is a clear indication of the progress he’s made. No longer a rookie, he’s started his third season with the Woking team at the top of his game and has gone up a level.

He has shown that he is now a real top talent who, if he can get his hands on a really leading car, can win races and titles.

“This weekend, too, he simply continued what we saw of him on the first two race weekends,” said his team boss Andreas Seidl after the Portuguese Grand Prix.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M, Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari SF21

Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images

“He does it when it matters, he is one with the car, with the team. I think he drove another brilliant race today, made great maneuvers and also great overtaking maneuvers.

“He always kept track of his engineering team to make sure you were executing the tire strategy correctly. And I would say he was in control of the race every second of this race and that is of course great to see.” “

Portugal was a 2021 style case study by Lando Norris who took crucial steps both on launch and restart and made no mistakes.

“The first was just a good fight with Esteban,” he told Motorsport.com shortly after the flag. “I got him in the first corners, he got me back. And then I caught him with a pretty good move in turn 11. So a good little battle.

“And then I got two cars when I restarted, I got Carlos because I saw how he fought with Sergio in the first couple of corners.

“So I was able to sit back a little, prepare my line and have a good opportunity to assert myself in front of both of them, which I did. Unfortunately we don’t have the pace to stay in front of you.” Red Bull barely. “

The pass to Perez sparked a bit of controversy. The Mexican informed his team that it was an abuse of route restrictions.

“After what I did, I thought I was fine,” Norris insisted. “I have to see it from the ship and from the T-Cam or something. I went inside, if I had gone I would have gone outside or something.

“So it’s difficult, especially at Turn 4 you get the wind change, I was very close to it, so it’s difficult in the dirty air too. But at the end of the day, at the end of the day, he was way ahead of the race. So I think so not that it made much difference to him or me. “

At one point, Norris was heard telling his engineer not to interrupt, which the British driver told him to focus on the difficult Portimao route.

“I mean, it’s a tough stretch like this because of the wind, because it’s so easy to lock in, and I’ve made a long stint on the media as soon as you walk over a bump and make a mistake, or you lock it can be game over.

“On some tracks I allow them to talk and give me a lot of information, but here I had to focus and Charles [Leclerc] pushed me a lot in this second stint. And I had to deal with the tires a lot, but also push very hard. So it wasn’t an easy second stint for me.

Lando Norris, McLaren, at Parc Ferme

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

“It’s nice to have that information sometimes. But it’s also nice when I just focus on my own job. And I have mirrors so I can see when he catches me or not and things like that. So is it sometimes the preference. ” I’ll ask for more information, sometimes I’ll tell you to shut up. “

Norris and the MCL35M have been competitive on three different tracks so far as attention is now focused on the fourth round in Barcelona this weekend

“We’ll see,” he said of the possible shape of the car in Spain. “I think today we were probably a little better than we expected. Even more afterwards [qualifying] yesterday we struggled a little and alpine were very fast.

“We’re doing a good job, but that doesn’t mean we’ll be there every race. I think we’ve seen how much Alpine has improved over Imola this weekend.

“And it can be the same for us, it can be the same for AlphaTauri. It can be the same for Ferrari. So if we mix a little, I think it’s expected. But we just have to keep working hard. That’s the goal . “

The team player Norris always said “we”, but it is very important that he immerses himself in these sensational performances when everything fits together. He agreed that he drove better than ever.

“I think I definitely feel like I’m doing the best job I’ve done. And, overall, those first three races were better than any other race I’ve done,” he said.

“Everything starts on Friday with the preparation, to complete my laps in qualifying, not to make any mistakes and to attack in these first laps.

“I started P7 and got to P4. And not just because I was quick, but because I did a better job in the race, prepared for the lines and things like that.

“I’m confident, or shall we say I have some confidence, and sometimes last year and first year I struggled with it. And I think now I have a better amount of it.

“Sometimes I’m still not sure about the car and myself, but definitely higher and in a better position than me. So that helps.”

At first glance, the only weakness in 2021 was qualifying. His starting positions – he started seventh in all three races – allowed him a little extra work on Sundays. However, it is easy to overlook the fact that a few centimeters from the “legal” line in Imola cost Norris third on the grid.

“I think it’s important to see how qualification went if you just look at Lando,” said Seidl in Portugal.

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB16B, fights with Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“If you look at Imola without the track limit problem, he could actually show his potential. On the other hand, if you don’t get into the lap because of a track limit violation, you end up there and then you deserve to land in a P7.

“I think Lando and the car showed the potential there too. So I don’t see any disproportion there compared to what we see on Sunday.”

Logic suggests that in a planned 23-race season, Norris is unlikely to stay in the points ahead of Bottas and Perez. But can he start aiming for fifth place and the best of the rest?

“No, it’s way too early for that,” he emphasized. “I do what I can. But I think, as we saw it in the first few races, we have the opportunity. And if they make mistakes, we can be at the front like in Imola.” [Perez] Had the pit stop penalty and things like that, then we take advantage of it. And when I passed him today, we took advantage of that.

“But we can’t always support it at our pace. That’s why we’re taking advantage of the opportunities at the moment. But we definitely just need a little more pace and performance to consistently achieve this.” or be confident about it. “

Norris could downplay the proposal for fifth place, but Seidl believes it is still possible to reach a higher goal and possibly only beat Bottas or Perez through consistent scoring.

“Well, there is always a chance,” said the German. “But here, too, it is simply important that we deliver from weekend to weekend together with Lando. Consistency is king, together with performance of course to outperform cars that are definitely faster than us on paper and in reality.”

“But if we continue to upgrade the car and Lando and his team continue to do what he has done in the first three races so far, this will keep the pressure on these guys in front of us.”

“And then again this year there will be an opportunity to finish races before them, and then there will always be a chance.”

“But at the same time you have to be realistic, when these guys get together every weekend we just have to acknowledge or accept that we are not there yet in terms of performance.”