Lando Norris feels he is being pushed “an insane amount” by McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri this season.
Despite Max Verstappen scoring a sixth consecutive race victory with his triumph in the British Grand Prix on Sunday, it was McLaren that stole the show at Silverstone.
After Norris and Piastri qualified second and third, only a safety car after Kevin Magnussen’s Haas caught fire prevented them from finishing in those positions as the young Australian was forced to settle for fourth, with the Briton runner-up.
F2 and F3 champion Piastri is further underlining why McLaren sought his services last year following what proved to be a controversial contract dispute with the Melburnian’s former team Alpine.
Norris is happy to concede he is also reaping the benefits of what is his third partnership after previously being team-mates with Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo.
After stating that “I feel for him” as Piastri missed out on becoming only the sixth Australian in F1 history to claim a podium, Norris added: “He should be sitting here, if things went to plan and there wasn’t a safety car.
“So it’s a bit of a shame. He deserved his first podium in Formula 1. It would have been amazing for us as McLaren, celebrating our 60th anniversary and the Google Chrome livery, all of these things. To share it would have been pretty special.
“And he deserves it. He was on top form all weekend. Yeah, he’s been pushing me an insane amount, which is a good thing. It’s raised the level of what we do as a team.
“But all year he’s been good. It’s not like he’s just turned up here and been strong. He’s been good since day one in the car and he makes my life tough sometimes.
“I don’t always like it, but it’s a good thing at the end of the day, and it makes me a better driver, too.
“As I say, it’s a shame he’s not sat here, too. We did everything we should have done to be P2 and P3, but he’ll have his chance.
“He’s driving very well, doing a very good job, and if we can improve the car a little bit more, we can be here a lot more often.
“And I’m sure he’s going to have his fair few times of being here, too.”
The podium was Norris’ seventh of his F1 career from his 93rd grand prix, now five times third and twice a runner-up.
Compared to his first in the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix – the first race of that year due to the Covid-19 pandemic – Norris felt his latest was his “best, most exciting one”.
“I think your first podium in Formula 1 is always pretty, pretty special, that’s the one you remember forever – but maybe not when you’ve got as many as they do,” remarked Norris, referring to Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
“But for me, I’m still in that phase where everyone means a lot, and especially my first one at my home grand prix is very special, hearing everyone chanting and seeing all the fans, seeing all the team below the podium.
“It’s like something I saw back in 2007, 2008 when I first started watching Formula 1 and seeing Lewis and Fernando here.
“And now it’s my turn to… It’s pretty stressful to be here now and be in that position, especially with how tricky it was at times (in the race) so I’m very, very proud.”
Discussion about this post