Norris had not expected McLaren to fight for a podium at Barcelona
Lando Norris left the Barcelona‑Catalunya Grand Prix with a result he openly admitted he did not expect: a hard‑earned and intelligently managed third place, his second podium of the season and his first finish in several races.
The reigning World Champion delivered a measured, disciplined drive that kept him within range of the Mercedes pair throughout, and after the race he offered a detailed, candid reflection on both his own performance and McLaren’s trajectory.
Norris explained that the most surprising aspect of his afternoon was simply how competitive he remained from start to finish. “Quite a bit actually,” he said when asked how much confidence he took from the race.
“I just wasn’t expecting to be… It wasn’t like I was fighting the Mercedes, but I was always there. I wasn’t far behind at all, and I probably wasn’t expecting to be quite that close for the whole race, especially because after the first stint, I think I was already like, I don’t know, 12 seconds behind George.”
Despite that early deficit, McLaren’s pit‑stop timing and Norris’s consistency allowed him to claw back time. “The fact we kind of pulled things around and we seemed to be stopping on good laps and things like that, I think shows good signs,” he said. “I was pretty happy with the race today.”
He also highlighted the physical and strategic demands of the afternoon, noting how aggressively he had to push early in each stint to stay in touch. “It was clear how much more I had to push comparing to them in the first parts of the first third and second third of a stint, because it was clear how much more I deg’d off after in the final third.”
Even so, the positives outweighed the frustrations: “A better day than I was expecting. I certainly wasn’t expecting to be on the podium today… I’ve not seen a chequered flag for a while, so it’s good to be here and just nice to reward the team once again.”
In the post‑race interviews, Norris also took a moment to congratulate race winner Lewis Hamilton, who claimed his first victory for Ferrari: “First of all, I want to congratulate Lewis. Nice to see him back on top, so I’m very happy for [him]."
He acknowledged that McLaren benefitted from Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s late retirement, but stressed that the team had put itself in the right position.
“I did my best to keep up with these guys but too quick. We gave ourselves a chance if anything happened and we obviously got a bit lucky with Antonelli going out, but otherwise very happy… very happy to be back on the podium.”
Asked what McLaren still needs to challenge for victories, Norris was direct and realistic. “Just a little bit of everything,” he said. “At the minute, we’re doing a good job as a team. I think we’re making good progress, but these guys are just doing a better job, so we have to give credit to them and admit that to ourselves.”
He emphasised that McLaren must continue pushing on all fronts: “We’ve got to keep working hard, we’ve got to keep putting in the effort. But the whole team are doing it… We’ve just got to keep our heads down and keep working and we’ll be there soon.”
