After a convincing first Formula 1 victory Lando Norris was more than elated. In his 110th attempt the young Briton capitalised on a favourable Safety Car, before laying down a tempo that even Max Verstappen in the all-mighty Red Bull RB20 couldn’t match. Crossing the line first there was no-one in Formula 1 that begrudged the McLaren driver his first Grand Prix-victory.
Talking to Jenson Button after the race he couldn’t temper his enthousiasm, letting out an expletive.
“Oh, wow. About time, huh? Fuck. Sorry. What a race, huh?
“It’s been a long time coming, but finally I’ve managed to do it, so I’m so happy for my whole team. I finally delivered for them.”
Norris couldn’t be anymore proud of himself, his team and of course his mum and dad, who he duly thanked.
“I am [proud]. I mean, the whole weekend’s been good,” he said. “I’ve just had some little setbacks along the way, but I knew on Friday we had the pace, and just a couple mistakes here and there, but today we managed to put it together.
“We put the perfect strategy, it all paid off, so thanks to McLaren, everyone, and I have to give a shout-out to my mum and dad, of course.”
Coming into the paddock this morning, Norris already had a feeling that this was going to be a good day, he told his team over the radio during his out lap.
“I guess that’s how it’s done. Finally. Oh, I’m so happy! I knew it, I knew it when I came in this morning.
“I said: ‘today is the day full of opportunities’. And I nailed it. You nailed it. Thank you so much.”
Leading the statistic for most podiums without a win until now, the Glastonbury-native has had a few doubters of the years, not in the least after he threw away a victory during the late stage downpour in the 2021 Russian Grand Prix. But his loyalty to McLaren proved to be fruitful, finally.
“What do I say to them [McLaren]? I’m just proud, really.
“I mean, a lot of people, I guess, doubted me along the way,” Norris silenced his doubters. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes over my last five years, my short career, but today we put it all together, so this is all for the team.
“I stuck with McLaren because I could believe in them, and I did believe in them, and today proved exactly that.”
