Lando Norris admits surprise at Singapore GP performance

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Lando Norris admits surprise at Singapore GP result

By George Dagless

Published Oct 4, 2022

Lando Norris has said how sweet a double points finish was for McLaren at the Singapore Grand Prix with them initially having low expectations

SPA, BELGIUM - AUGUST 28: Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren walks in the Paddock prior to the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on August 28, 2022 in Spa, Belgium. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Lando Norris has said how sweet a double points finish was for McLaren at the Singapore Grand Prix with them initially having low expectations.

The Woking-based team did not have massively high hopes for the weekend in Singapore and were perhaps in damage limitation mode with Alpine looking strong.

Norris managed to get his car into the top 10 during qualifying, though, and was duly joined in the top 10 come the end of the race by Daniel Ricciardo, who navigated tricky conditions well to rise to P5, whilst both Alpine cars retired before the end of the GP.

Reflecting on the result on Sunday, Norris said:

"It was the last thing that we expected after FP1 and Friday.

"We were in for P4 the whole time. Lewis [Hamilton] crashed on his own, Max [Verstappen] went straight past me, so we were fighting for P4 just on pure merit.

“It was a fun race, probably one of the most difficult races I have done in Formula 1, just because of the level of concentration needed and clearly how easy it was to make mistakes, lock up and go wide, hit a wet patch or whatever.

“Amazing. Even more so for Daniel and the strategy from their side to get him up to fifth on a day where our competitors didn’t score any points was even better. I’m super, super happy.”

lando norris drives at the singapore grand prix — SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - OCTOBER 02: Lando Norris of Great Britain driving the (4) McLaren MCL36 Mercedes on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 02, 2022 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images,)

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - OCTOBER 02: Lando Norris of Great Britain driving the (4) McLaren MCL36 Mercedes on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on October 02, 2022 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images,)

"On Friday, it looked like one of our worst weekends so far and I think on pace, we were still a mile off. Not in conditions like today. We did a very good job, both Daniel and myself and the strategy team.

“Alpine were at least probably about half-a-second a lap quicker in complete wet conditions or complete dry conditions, maybe even more than that.

“We were expecting the opposite. We were expecting them to be P4 and P5 or P5 and P6 this weekend and us to maybe not even finish in the points and it ended up being the other way around. So a pleasant surprise.”