Lando Norris happy with McLaren being 'on slightly the upward trend' since F1 season-opener in Bahrain

McLaren had a rough start to the 2022 season as seen at the Bahrain Grand Prix, but Lando Norris is happy with the progress the team has made since then.

In the drivers' press conference ahead of the Canadian GP, the Briton admitted that the team did not have particularly strong results overall, but emphasized that progress was still being made. He said:

“I still hope Bahrain was a little bit more of a one-off, you know, with a lack of preparation and the problems we had going into it. But nevertheless, I think it’s not like we’ve been amazing, it’s not like we’ve scored a huge amount of points, we’ve had great weekends and some slightly tougher ones, but in general, things have still been on slightly the upward trend.”

He added:

“So as long as we continue that, I’d be very happy with it. And this weekend, same as it has been. We’ve not got anything too new on the car, we got some different things to try. But we’re probably going to be in the race with these guys alongside me, maybe not this guy, but these three. And yeah, it’s hard to ever know where you’re going to be on a different track and a new weekend. So as long as you’re in the race with them, I’ll be happy. And of course, I’ll be even happier if I’m ahead of them.”

Lando Norris has managed to finish in the points in six out of the last seven races and even secured his first podium of the season at the Imola Grand Prix, a real testament to the improvements enjoyed by McLaren over the season so far.

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Lando Norris claims he does not regret holding his position for the benefit of the team in Baku

Lando Norris admitted to being a "team player" at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where he accepted a ninth-place finish behind his teammate. With both drivers helping each over the course of the race, Norris accepted the team's decision.

In a post-race media interaction, the 22-year-old said:

“I think I’m a team player. I accepted I can’t overtake at the end and I couldn’t go for the position. Daniel [Ricciardo] helped me out in the middle. It was one lap he wasn’t allowed to overtake me on. If the return favor is to not overtake at all in the last three laps, I guess I have to accept it. I think it’s fair. I don’t think what we did was incorrect."

He added:

“It’s just you’re racing, you always want to push it, you always want to find what the limit of it is. But I could have done it when I was at the inside into Turn 1 and I gave way to him and then let him through.”

Lando Norris stands seventh in the Driver Standings with 50 points to his name.