Lando Norris: “We’re going into this weekend with our heads held high”

Lando Norris insists the McLaren F1 Team will go into this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with their ‘heads held high’ despite a less than spectacular opening round of the season in Bahrain.

Norris was never a contender for the top ten at the Bahrain International Circuit as McLaren struggled for pace and performance, but he knows a lot was learned about the MCL36 that he hopes will benefit them going forward.

He acknowledges the hard work being put in by everyone at McLaren to try and solve the problems they have had so to improve the car, and he will be giving it his all this weekend in a bid to score points to reward them.

“I’m excited to be back at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. It’s a cool track and extremely quick for a street circuit,” said Norris.  “It kept us on our toes last year and it will be great to see how the 2022 cars run here. 

“We’re going into this weekend with our heads held high. Bahrain was a tough one, but we’ll keep moving forward as a team and take everything we’ve learned from last weekend to make this one the best we can.

“I trust the team both here and back at the factory and I know they’re working day and night to make us stronger for this weekend. We know what we’re capable of achieving so we’ll give it our all and leave nothing on the table in Saudi Arabia.” 

“There’s a long season ahead of us with a lot of opportunities” – Daniel Ricciardo

Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo was equally disappointed with the result and performance in Bahrain, but like Norris, he has confidence that the team can turn around their fortunes and bring themselves into the battle for points.

The Australian knows they are likely to be on for another tough weekend in Saudi Arabia with the race coming so quickly after the Bahraini event, but he knows there could be opportunities to score points there if the 2021 event is anything to go by.

“Last weekend was disappointing, but on the positive side, we learnt a lot about our car during the course of the race, which we can take into the Grand Prix in Jeddah,” said Ricciardo.  “We’re looking forward to getting back on track at this incredibly fast and flowing circuit.

“The Bahrain Grand Prix was tough, and not how we wanted to start the season, but we’re putting together our plan to get higher up the grid. We know we might not get there in one weekend, so we’re focused on learning as much as we can at every event.

“There’s a long season ahead of us with a lot of opportunities and that’s exactly the case in Saudi Arabia. We’re going to continue to work as a team and help each other to move forward, that’s why Formula 1 is a team sport.

“We’ll keep at it, keep our heads held high and do everything we can to progress at every weekend.” 

Daniel Ricciardo is hoping for a better result in Saudi Arabia compared to Bahrain – Credit: McLaren F1 Team