Lando Norris might miss 2022 F1 Brazil GP, McLaren could take reserve driver instead

McLaren have confirmed through social media that Lando Norris will not be participating in Thursday's media build-up to the 2022 F1 Brazilian Grand Prix this afternoon after suffering food poisoning. Additionally, Nyck de Vries is allegedly available on-site to potentially substitute for the Briton in case he does not recover in time to race

In a social media post, McLaren wrote:

“Lando is feeling unwell with suspected food poisoning, so he will rest in the hotel today. We expect him back at track tomorrow. Get well soon, Lando!”

While the team is optimistic about Lando Norris' speedy recovery, F1 digital presenter and reporter Will Buxton has confirmed that Dutch racing driver Nyck de Vries could potentially take his seat at McLaren this weekend. In a Twitter post, the Briton wrote:

"Just received confirmation from McLaren that the only reserve the team has on site is @nyckdevries. While we're all wishing Lando a swift recovery, should he not feel up to it and team subs in Nyck, it'd make it the 4th team he's driven for in an official session in 2022."

De Vries is currently the reserve driver for Mercedes and will be racing alongside Yuki Tsunoda next season for AlphaTauri, where he will be replacing Pierre Gasly.

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Lando Norris does not believe Interlagos is the right circuit for a sprint race

For the second consecutive season, the F1 Brazilian GP will be hosting the sprint race format that was introduced last year, but Lando Norris believes that Interlagos is not the kind of track that is appropriate for this format. He emphasized that he prefers the traditional format of qualifying on Saturday and giving it all on Sunday's race, rather than switching things up.

As reported by PlanetF1, Lando Norris said:

“Growing up, always having qualifying and then a race, that’s always what I’ve known Formula 1 to be. So in a way, I’m with Max [Verstappen] on that. I love just to build up the pressure of just having qualifying and one race with nothing coming between, that’s just the structure of it. At the correct tracks. I also don’t mind it. So when it was in Austria or Monza, tracks you can actually race on. Interlagos, reasonably, not the easiest track for most people to race on.”

Max Verstappen had previously claimed that he barely considers the sprint race to be a real race given that the focus lies entirely on limiting damage and remaining in the top three, to actually ensure a reasonable result in the main race on Sundays. With drivers afraid to go all out in Saturday's sprint as a result of a lack of motivation, several believe it is unnecessary and rather uninteresting to watch drivers go at it half-heartedly. This season, unlike the last, the top 8 finishers in the sprint race are awarded championship points rather than just the top 3.