Norris revels in ‘one of our best races’ that overcame early Antonelli lead

Lando Norris believes his win in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix was one of the best of his career after handling changing conditions and repassing world champion Kimi Antonelli for victory.

Antonelli took the lead off the line ahead of Norris, and pulled a gap of over seven seconds at one stage as Norris also lost out to Liam Lawson in wet conditions early on. Once Norris cleared the Racing Bulls car, he was able to close up on Antonelli during the pit stop phase to fit slick tires, and then was never troubled despite rain falling again late in the race.

“I think it’s certainly up there in terms of challenge,” Norris said. “A challenge to achieve, not made easy for, I guess, all the reasons possible. Not the best start and obviously coming back from there, but a lot of challenges from just strategy and conditions – weather drying out or managing the inters, getting on the slicks, not making mistakes on the slicks, especially into Turn 1 and a lot of the wetter places, and then vice versa, going back onto the inters at the end and managing the slicks in the wet conditions.

“So, a lot thrown at everyone on a day like today, but it was probably one of our best races in terms of execution and pit stops, timing of things. I was eight seconds behind Kimi before the pit stop. We boxed one lap early onto the slicks. I came out and was right behind him and forced him to push a little bit more, and obviously he went into a mistake and I could capitalize on it.

“So, I think in terms of always being there where we needed to be, being able to put people under pressure was a very good day for that. Also, from my side, just not making any mistakes, which is so easy to do on a day like today. So, great performance from the whole team. Certainly up there with one of the best I’ve ever had.”

McLaren brought upgrades to Interlagos and Norris delivered with pole position in the wet on Saturday, but he is unsure if the car was capable of winning had the race been dry.

“I think if we look at the stats of the practice sessions and stuff, we were generally always a tenth or two tenths behind the top,” he said. “ he upgrades we brought this weekend were great. They worked as they should have done, so if we didn’t bring them, we’d be further behind. Simple as that. But it’s still not enough. They’re not enough to say you’re suddenly always the quickest.

“I think on a day like today, it’s not all about that. It’s about good strategy, good pit stops, driving well and not making mistakes. I certainly had a car that I could fight for a win with today, and that’s very important. Those things would help. It’s hard to quantify how much it’s helped, but upgrades always do, and they worked well.

“So, the team has done a very good job. But as much as we’re happy we’ve managed to bring things and take a step forward, and come away with a pole and a win, we’re not as happy as we could be because we also know we’re not good enough. We’re not at the level we need to be. We’re not confident in the package we have just yet.

“We’re getting there slowly. We want to do it quicker, but that’s difficult. We know we still have work to do, and we’re not at the level we need to be to fight for a world championship just yet. So, I’m proud of the team for the work they’re doing, but we all know that we still have work to do.”