Lando Norris says the McLaren F1 Team gave it their all throughout the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday, and they were rewarded with seventh place, the fourth time in five races he has achieved this position.
The Briton felt compromised by battling not one but two BWT Alpine F1 Team drivers, with the strategy options their rivals had enabling them to get Fernando Alonso to finish ahead of them in sixth, meaning the team lost more ground to them in the Constructors’ Championship.
Norris believes sixth would have been the best they could have achieved on the day at the Circuit Zandvoort, so missing out by just one place meant it was a decent day for McLaren, and they will be looking to be ahead of Alpine again next weekend in Italy.
“Tough race, but I think it was a good one,” said Norris. “We gave it our all. I think we had decent pace.
“It’s just tough battling with both Alpines, they can play a lot more with the strategy and hold me up. That was tough, so I’m happy with how we did. P6 would have been the best we could have achieved anyway, so one position out.
“We did lose some points to Alpine but they’re getting more out of their car than us at the moment. Despite that I’m happy with everything else. We’ll keep pushing and try to be ahead again next time.”
“It was always going to be a tricky Sunday” – Daniel Ricciardo
Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo knew it was going to be a tough day in the Netherlands having started down in seventeenth, and so it proved to be as he finished in the same position.
The Australian, who will be replaced at McLaren by countryman Oscar Piastri in 2023, felt he had some good pace in his MCL36 when in clear air, but he did not get the chance too often to show this, and he felt he was always stuck in traffic.
Ricciardo is already putting another disappointing weekend behind him as he heads next weekend to the track where he stormed to victory twelve months ago, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.
“It was always going to be a tricky Sunday because of where we started and the nature of the track,” admitted Ricciardo. “The first few laps were not too bad.
“I think we made some places here and there but starting that far back its hard to make a big impression, you need a big difference to make some moves and overtakes.
“In clear air, it felt like I had a little bit of pace to use – but it didn’t always seem to last long. So, obviously another challenging weekend.
“We look ahead to Monza, and I’ll try to bring back last year’s magic.”
