A “huge” result for McLaren in Jeddah
Struggling since the beginning of the season, Lando Norris admitted that his seventh place finish in Jeddah was a source of motivation for McLaren.
The MCL36 had to deal with a brake cooling issue since the winter testing in Bahrain. While Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo’s cars failed to score any points in the Sakhir Grand Prix, things turned around in Saudi Arabia, with Lando Norris finishing in seventh place.
With only 13 cars remaining at the end of the race, British driver Lando Norris managed to secure the seventh position in the standings after starting eleventh on the grid. On the other hand, his teammate Daniel Ricciardo was unable to complete more than 35 laps last Sunday.
An unlocked meter
“These first points of the season are very welcome for the team and will undoubtedly motivate the troops again,” according to Norris.
(I) “I think it’s huge for us,” the driver said. (I) “It’s good for everyone’s motivation. There are still many things we are thinking about, it’s not like we had two terrible weekends and no one wants to smile anymore. We can smile a little bit and understand that we have a lot of work to do,” he added.
And we still have a lot of progress to make if we want to be a little closer to the most competitive teams, a lot of work. But we know it, everyone at the factory knows it and they are already working harder than ever on all these things, bringing in some new elements, explained Lando Norris.
« We are good, these little things help and we finally scored some points, a P7 and not just a P10 for one point. This confirmation in P7 is good news, just like fighting for P6. So yes, it’s good for everyone here, for all the men and women and good for everyone at the factory. » rejoiced Lando Norris.
No major developments on the MCL36.
As for the state of the McLaren, the British driver asserts that no major modifications have been made to the car and that the track made the difference last weekend.
« The difference compared to last week is the track, delivered Norris. « Except that we haven’t changed much. But it shows how the car can perform on different tracks and where the strengths and weaknesses are […]. But if we were to go back to Bahrain today or next week, we would end up in Q1 and probably in the last positions. So in that sense, there isn’t much positive. ».
