McLaren’s Lando Norris is feeling ‘extremely happy’ with his third podium of the 2021 Formula One season, after finishing third at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Norris started second after missing out on pole in Qualifying by just 0.048 seconds and enjoyed a positive opening stint, despite being hit with a five second time penalty for forcing Sergio Perez wide at Turn Four on lap four and finding himself demoted to third on lap 20 by Lewis Hamilton.
His time penalty however proved costly in the pit stop phrase as Valtteri Bottas overtook him, with the pair eventually overhauling Hamilton on laps 52 and 53 respectively to finish second and third which ultimately proved to be Norris’ third podium of the season after finishing third in Imola and Monaco.
Speaking on his result post-race as McLaren tightened their grip on third in the constructor standings, Norris said: “I’m extremely happy with today’s result. Another podium and a lot of points for us as a team.”
The 21 year-old however revealed that he believes that not finishing second is “disappointing” after pushing Bottas hard in the closing stages of the race, yet feels that finishing third was “also a big positive” with “extremely strong” pace in his favour heading into his home race at Silverstone from 16-18 July.
Daniel Ricciardo meanwhile recovered from a difficult Qualifying as he made up six positions from 13th on the grid to finish seventh, having done a 29 lap stint on the medium tyres before running hard tyres to the checkered flag.
Reflecting post-race on his performance after escaping penalty following investigation for allegedly failing to slow for yellow flags, Ricciardo admitted that he “had a pretty fun race” on the attack and in defence and was able to take joy and “fulfilment” from personally.
On losing sixth to Carlos Sainz on lap 70, Ricciardo admitted that the Spaniard was simply “just a bit quicker at the end with a fresher tyre” despite mounting a strong defence in the closing laps, yet feels relieved to have completed the first “tiring” triple-header of this season.
‘great to see that we could increase our performance…’
Team Principal, Andreas Seidl hailed third and seventh as “an excellent result” for McLaren with 49 points amassed across this triple-header, with huge contributions from all team members at the track and back at Woking plus Mercedes who provide McLaren with power units this season.
With the Red Bull Ring being the first track to host consecutive races this season, Seidl noted the fact that McLaren were able to “increase our performance” which enabled Norris to fight both Mercedes cars whilst Ricciardo “scrapped it out” against both Ferrari drivers.
Seidl however is excited to have a rest ahead of McLaren’s home race at Silverstone in front of packed British crowds, where a new weekend format will be trialled for the very first time with Qualifying on Friday (16 July) evening ahead of a Sprint Race on Saturday 17 July).
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