Lando Norris: “Hopefully we can take our learnings from Mexico into this weekend”

The McLaren F1 Team are looking to bounce back from their disappointing weekend in Mexico City this weekend in São Paulo, and Lando Norris hopes the team learns from their experiences at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Norris was able to score a single point in the Mexico City Grand Prix after starting at the back of the pack following an engine change grid penalty, whilst team-mate Daniel Ricciardo ended outside the top ten after a first corner collision with Valtteri Bottas.

And heading to the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Norris is looking for a better weekend for McLaren, and he says there is opportunities for progress throughout the third race weekend of 2021 that includes the Saturday Sprint Qualifying race.

“I’m excited to be racing in Brazil after missing out last year because of the pandemic,” said Norris. “Interlagos is an iconic circuit with a rich history in F1. The atmosphere there is unique thanks to the passionate fans that make it a fun place to race.

“Hopefully we can take our learnings from Mexico into this weekend and improve as a team. We’ve got four more races left on the calendar so every session counts. Sprint qualifying has shown that there are plenty of opportunities to make good progress across the weekend.

“We need to keep our heads down and hit the ground running on Friday.” 

“There’s definitely some optimism coming off the back of last weekend” – Daniel Ricciardo

Team-mate Ricciardo is in agreement with Norris and insists the team remains hungry and determined to return to form in Brazil and fight back against Scuderia Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship as the two teams battle over third place.

Despite the poor result in Mexico, the Australian says there is still some positives to take from the weekend and optimism to take into this weekend, and he hopes to be back in the battle for points on Sunday afternoon, with Ricciardo feeling they have the car to be fighting towards the front of the field.

“I’m looking forward to heading back to Brazil for another sprint weekend, these weekends have been kind to us so far this year, so we’ll head into the weekend with positivity,” said Ricciardo.

“After the result last weekend, where we had a disappointing result, we can only really look forward. Luckily we have the opportunity to fight back almost immediately with this triple-header of races.

“I didn’t take home any points in Mexico, but the outcome could’ve been very different if we’d just had a few more centimetres, which proves we have the car to fight for good positions and decent points.

“There’s definitely some optimism coming off the back of last weekend. My focus is now on scoring points in a few days’ time, so we’ll keep at it. The team is hungry, determined and we’ll keep on going right to the final lap of the season.”

Daniel Ricciardo is aiming for points this weekend in Brazil – Credit: McLaren F1 Team