“There’s always just a little bit of our happiness gone,” Lando Norris admits difficult times at McLaren after lackluster start to the 2022 F1 season
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Lando Norris
If there was one team on the rise in the past two years, McLaren was certainly up there competing for the top spot. After having been through some serious lows in the last decade, McLaren seem to finally have a car competing for podium finishes in 2020 and 2021. In fact in 2021, no other team managed a 1-2 podium finish except McLaren, as Daniel Ricciardo won in Monza, with Lando Norris coming in at P2.
However, things have started on a grim note in 2022. With new regulations coming into effect this season, it was always tricky for teams to crack the cheat code when it came to developing their cars. As far as McLaren is concerned, they are miles off the top, and instead have taken two steps back from their 2021 progress.
Lando Norris did manage to bring his MCL36 to a seventh place finish in Jeddah, that helped his side grab their first points of the season. However, the Briton expects much more from his team, given that they were deemed worthy of fighting for podiums and wins.
“When you have points and you have success and podiums, there’s always a rise in morale,” said Norris, as quoted by GP Blog.
Lando Norris believes staying motivated is the key
Lando Norris was honest when he spoke about the mood at McLaren after the opening two races of the season. The young Briton revealed that a bit of happiness had gone from the McLaren camp, as they are never happy with finishing outside of the points.
“So, there’s always just a little bit of our happiness gone,” Norris added. The McLaren driver highlighted that the main thing at the moment remains to stay motivated. Norris added that their struggles might last for a third of the season, but the team should stay united, and focus on their main objectives.
“Even if it’s two months of struggling, or six, seven, eight races of struggling,” Norris continued, speaking about the need to stay motivated and united. There is certainly a long way left in the season, and McLaren will be hopeful of bringing in useful upgrades in April.
Daniel Ricciardo is yet to register his first points of the season, and next up, the Honey Badger sees himself racing in front of his home fans in Australia. The former Red Bull driver will have extra motivation to put in that extra effort, as the Australian GP makes a grand return after three-long years.
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Nirmit Mehta
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