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After Failing to “Hold On for Dear Life” Lando Norris Employs Most Painful Career Experience to Deal With Setback

Published 06/08/2023, 5:30 AM EDT

After a belter in qualifying and a P3 start, it’s not unnatural to hope for a podium. But Lando Norris is realistic – he simply doesn’t have the car for stellar finishes. It’s been no secret since McLaren launched its new MCL60 that they were going to face a rough year. That’s why, when asked what his target is for the race post qualifying, the hilarious Briton replied, “Just hold on for dear life.” When followed up by asking if it was in regards to the P3 position, he responded “Top 10” — with a smile. However, on the race day, he failed to live up to those tamped-down expectations as well. But this time, it’s not because of MCL60’s disastrous race pace, but an error of his own.

The McLaren Garage was full of hopeful faces before the ‘Lights Out’ in Barcelona. But any chances Norris had of scoring big points were damaged after just a couple of corners. After being overtaken by Lewis Hamilton, who started one place behind in fourth, Norris suffered an “unlucky” accident. In the 1st lap itself, the McLaren driver made contact with the back of the Mercedes and damaged his front wing. This resulted in a slow pit stop at the beginning of the race and a lowly P17 finish. Norris has had better races before, so naturally, the Briton was disappointed with the result. However, after the 2021 Russian GP heartbreak, the 23-year-old learned to ‘move on’.

Reflecting on the bad memories of the 2021 Sochi race where a victory just slipped away from him, Norris said, “Sochi 2021 was probably one of the hardest things to get over, not simply because of what happened but because of what we almost achieved,” as quoted by Sky Sports. Although the most difficult time in his F1 career, Norris admits that it made him increasingly able to handle setbacks. So now, he just learns from his mistakes and tries ‘to move on’.

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Speaking about how he gets over a bad result, Norris also said: “If it’s my mistake whether I crash or spin or get a penalty if it’s 100 percent down to me or even 50 percent down to me it’s a lot worse than if it’s just because we don’t have the pace in the car or things like that.”

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Despite the clash with Lewis Hamilton, Norris believes that it didn’t change anything

‘Unlucky’ but just ‘as expected’: Lando Norris after lowly P17 in Spain

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Due to the front wing damage, Norris had to pit at the end of that first lap and spent the rest of the race waddling at the back – a long way off points contention. When asked what he made of the incident with Hamilton, Norris believed it was an “unlucky” incident. But insisted that, regardless of the collision on Lap 1, he would have struggled to finish in the top 10.

Visibly annoyed after the race, the McLaren driver admitted his mistake and said, “I didn’t see that the Red Bull went off ahead of me and, because of that, I thought there would be normal pace around him too and everyone just checked up massively. So, just unlucky in my opinion. Maybe I’m wrong, but just misjudgement from my part because I couldn’t see the car ahead that had gone off, so unlucky, I think. But at the same time, we wouldn’t have had the pace to finish in the points anyway.”

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Watch this story: How Lando Norris Had a Chance to Go to Red Bull But Instead Chose McLaren

After the Spanish Grand Prix, Lando Norris sits 11th in the drivers’ championship with just 12 points.

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Written by:

Madhu Nandigala is an F1 writer at EssentiallySports with a passion for telling compelling stories. She holds a degree in Journalism and constantly looks for new ways to expand her knowledge and share untold tales from the world of sports. Madhu's fascination with sports began during her childhood.

Edited by:

Varunkumaar Chelladurai

After Failing to “Hold On for Dear Life” Lando Norris Employs Most Painful Career Experience to Deal With Setback

‘Unlucky’ but just ‘as expected’: Lando Norris after lowly P17 in Spain

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