Norris thanks McLaren Factory for the recent hard work

After a disappointing qualifying for Lando Norris and the McLaren F1 TeamThe British driver, who had canceled his lap time after qualifying three, more than made up for it in the race on a chaotic, rain-soaked race day 2021 Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna Use the soft tires on the last safety car restart to overtake Charles Leclerc and win the final podium finish.

Lando Norris was delighted with his second Formula 1 podium after a very well executed race by both the team and himself. Although the British driver made some good decisions, it was not easy sailing throughout the race – he had one bad start and had little contact with some other cars due to poor visibility from the spray.

“Of course very happy to get a podium. A very well executed race by the team and myself. I think I rode very well – I made a lot of good decisions – but it wasn’t easy. The start of the race was pretty difficult. A little bit of contact here and there, not a perfect start, but I kept my head cool. “

Norris stayed cool throughout the race and managed to take advantage of the opportunities presented by red flags and safety cars. With this in mind, Norris made his way back through the field.

“I concentrated throughout because sometimes you know that you have to reckon with the red flags and the safety cars and you think that there may be more opportunities for you later in the race. So I kept that in mind and made it through firmly. “

The British driver managed to make the most of the incidents that lay ahead, which at the end of the day all drivers could take advantage of, and then the strategy team made the decision to head onto the soft terrain that allowed Norris to overtake Leclerc when restarting the safety car.

“There were a few people who crashed before me and made mistakes, which we want to take advantage of here. In the end, we made a good decision to get on the soft tires and be ahead of Leclerc.”

Norris was close to finishing second but was unfortunately overtaken by Lewis Hamilton towards the end of the race, but it was still a very rewarding Grand Prix for the whole team. The new parts clearly worked wonders and their hard work at the factory pays off and makes the car faster every race weekend.

We almost stuck to P2, but not quite. It was a tough race, but very rewarding for me and especially for the team. A big thank you to them for bringing new parts and working so hard on the car at the factory to make it better every weekend. “

“I just have to keep working on it and improve” – Daniel Ricciardo

Photo credit: McLaren F1 Team

The first races of the season for Daniel Ricciardo It’s about embedding yourself in the team and getting used to the car. The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix showed that the Australian still needs time – to let teammate Lando Norris pass as he had a superior race pace.

It was one of those races where everything is in balance and no one really knows what’s going to happen. Ricciardo got off to a good start up to fifth, but as the track started to dry out the front right started to grain so it was difficult to keep a good pace.

“One of those races where it rained for the laps and you are not sure how it will go on. I managed to get a position at the start and then finished a little bit fifth. Just as the track started to dry out, I hit the front right so I couldn’t really keep a good pace. “

When restarting, both cars hit the soft compounds in order to reach positions when the start was standing still. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case and it was a very long stint on the soft tire and it was very hard to deal with Ricciardo on both the front and rear tires.

“For the restart, we put the soft tire on in order to make the most of a potential stationary start. I tried to stay on the soft until the end of this long stint but just couldn’t really make it. I think I struggled with both the front and rear tires. “

It wasn’t a fantastic race for Ricciardo’s side at the end of the day, but a sixth place combined with Norris ‘podium is great for McLaren’s hope for the constructors’ championship. This confirms the Australian belief that the car is very fast and that this can be capitalized once Ricciardo gets used to the car. At the moment he will continue to work hard to improve his pace in the McLaren.

“So certainly not a great race, but I think it’s good for the constructors’ points to come home in sixth if Lando is in third place. Congratulations to Lando, he had a great race and it’s great to see the car keep the pace. My racing pace was nothing special. I just have to keep working on it and improving. “