McLarens Lando Norris thought he had blown his possibility at his very first Formula One podium at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Norris declared third position at the Red Bull Ring by simply 0.1 seconds after Lewis Hamilton was benched down the order with a five-second charge right after the race. The F1 sophomore, 2019s novice of the year, barged past Racing Points Sergio Perez in the closing stages after a spell of weathering pressure from McLaren colleague Carlos Sainz.
The British chauffeur confessed he felt the podium chance slipping away.
” There were a couple of points where I believed I d fudged it up a bit,” he stated immediately after the race. “I dropped to 5th with a few laps to go, Carlos was practically going to get past me. I didnt provide up and I handled to get previous Perez and ended up on the podium.
I am a bit out of breath, however I am so delighted and happy of the group.
Lando Norris doused himself with champagne on the podium at the Austrian Grand Prix. Mark Thompson/Getty Images” Considering where we were a couple of years ago to now, I think its a pretty excellent achievement, so Im happy to be part of it.”
Norris claimed the podium by setting the fastest lap of the race on the last lap, he was not sure
” The last few laps, when I needed to get past Checo, I knew he had a five-second penalty however absolutely nothing more than that,” he added.
” I always seemed to struggle when I was close to the cars ahead and more susceptible to the men behind., I knew I had to attempt to get past him.
” And then when the Lewis charge came, I understood I needed to turn it up a bit.”
” There were a couple of points where I thought I d fudged it up a bit,” he said right away after the race. “I dropped to fifth with a few laps to go, Carlos was almost going to get past me. I didnt offer up and I managed to get previous Perez and ended up on the podium.
