"One of the hardest races I've ever done" - Lando Norris claims his illness 'compromised' his weekend despite P8 finish at 2022 F1 Spanish GP

Lando Norris put together a heroic performance at the Spanish GP as he battled tonsilitis throughout the weekend to secure 8th position in the race. The McLaren driver's discomfort was visible throughout the weekend as he was seen puking before the start of the race as well. Despite that, he produced a measured drive and somehow pulled off a points finish for the team.

Speaking to the media after the race, Norris admitted he had spent most of his energy trying to fight off the illness all week and was in no condition to have the best possible preparation.

Lando Norris said:

“Today was tough. I was feeling really unwell before the race as I’m suffering with tonsillitis, and that, in combination with the high temperatures, made this one of the hardest races I’ve ever done. I’ve been a bit on the backfoot this weekend as most of my energy has been spent fighting off this illness. I’ve had to miss a lot of engineering sessions, which has compromised my weekend, and I definitely wasn’t as prepared for the Grand Prix as I could have been. With that in mind, I’m really pleased to have come out of the race with decent points for the team.”

The Briton then commended his team for their relentless hard work in bringing the upgrades to the track, saying

“The team have been working really hard to bring performance to the car, so I’m glad we could take something from the weekend. We’ll look at the data over the next few days, see if there’s any additional performance we can extract from the car and make sure we’re ready to go for Monaco.”

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Lando Norris' teammate Daniel Ricciardo has a forgettable race in Barcelona

For Daniel Ricciardo, the Spanish GP was a complete contrast. While Lando Norris stormed his way through the field from a lowly grid position to a top 10 finish, the Australian went the other way from a strong grid position to a lowly finishing position. After the race, a dejected Ricciardo said:

“It wasn’t a good race today. I’d love to find something positive, but it was just a struggle from the start. I was slow, and I simply had a lot less grip than everyone else around me. With the three stops, we had four chances on different sets of tyres, but we didn’t have the pace on any of them. I’m not really sure why, to be honest, so we’ll try to have a look and understand it.”

Meanwhile, Norris is currently 7th in the drivers' standings with 39 points and a podium to his name this season.