Norris has taken the next step, says McLaren F1 boss Seidl

Norris started the seventh round of the 2021 season in seventh, one place behind his new McLaren team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, but drove a measured race to finish fourth, including courageous overtaking maneuvers against Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly.

Team boss Seidl is starting his third season as a Formula 1 driver and believes that Norris has made good use of the lessons he has learned in the past to appreciate his “very controlled” race.

“I think we saw all weekend, especially in qualifying and in the race, that Lando took the next step,” said Seidl. “It’s something we should expect a young rider, especially in their early years, to take these steps as that’s how you become a top guy in the sport.

“It was great to see how he did it because it was really a very controlled race on his part. He pushed when he had to push and he controlled the race when he was able to check.”

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF21

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Norris said he was particularly pleased with his racing pace in Sakhir, an area he admitted “wasn’t very good a few years ago”.

Seidl agreed with his driver’s assessment and believed that part of this progress was due to the Briton’s increased confidence and experience.

“When I look at how he works with his engineers, how he communicates during practice, during qualifying, during the race and under stress, you can see that he has built the experience and confidence over the past two years. ” “explained the German.

“Now he’s doing everything that was digested over the winter again and he has learned from himself, and that leads to lap times and performance in the race.

“I think Tire Management today did a sensational job, he would push if it was necessary. He was in full control and it was obviously great to see.”

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McLaren left Bahrain third in the constructors’ championship, just like in 2020, which Seidl said was encouraging for the rest of the campaign.

“I’m very happy with what the team has done this weekend. I think the hard work everyone has done over the winter has paid off,” he added. “The gap, for example, too [winner] Lewis [Hamilton], was only about 45 seconds I think.

“In a race in which these guys at the top were in full swing, that’s an encouraging sign because it confirms once again that we have made a good step forward with the car.”