Back in front of everyone
Lando Norris took a little time, but he finally satisfied the desire to win his first race as world champion. For now, it was ‘only’ a Sprint, but looking at the performances shown by the MCL40 between Friday and Saturday, the impression is that the Englishman is the main favorite also for today’s qualifying and for the victory in tomorrow’s ‘real’ race. In Miami, the Briton dominated the 100 km mini-race, starting from pole and never leaving the top of the group. At the finish line, #1 beat his teammate by almost four seconds, signing a papaya one-two that seems like a flashback to 2025.
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“From 50 seconds behind in Melbourne to this? In a way, it’s just that the car works better – Norris said to the microphones of Sky Sports F1 – but there are definitely some things and specific characteristics, for example in the rear part of the car. You just feel more comfortable pushing the accelerator a bit more aggressively. [The car] is also more predictable. So, as a driver, when you try something you can find the optimal point better than before. When you push and make a big mistake, you then are a bit afraid to approach that limit again. Now instead it seems a bit easier and maybe the temperatures also play a role in this”.
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The heat these days seems to have helped the papaya team: “The car is really at the limit of sliding instead of being very nervous and unpredictable and these are conditions where I usually perform well. But above all the car now has a good rear. This gives us confidence as drivers, so you can just press the accelerator, give it some gas, and it’s always a nice thing“.
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