Norris: After Bahrain I stopped making predictions

In Sao Paulo, Lando Norris had a great weekend, finishing second in the sprint and in the race on Sunday – becoming the best rider of the day…

Question: Lando, this seems like your best start in Formula 1 – from sixth to second in just a few meters…
Lando Norris: In terms of changing positions? I think so. It was nice to be second after the first corner. We discussed strategy, traffic, thought about how we could win back, and then I was straight into second.

Obviously I lost to Max. Not because he had a bad start, but Max was especially strong in the second part of the race. We did everything we could, the car worked in the optimal range and it paid off. Compared to Saturday’s sprint we have taken a step forward.

Question: Lewis Hamilton was very close on the restart…
Lando Norris: Yes, but I stayed in front, everything went fine.

Q: Max said that you and him had the same pace at the beginning of each segment, but then the gap widened…
Lando Norris: We saw pretty much the same thing yesterday. I was able to hold on for the first 10-15-17 laps, but then I lost speed.

Apparently the fact is that we are generally inferior in terms of pace, I have to attack more actively to keep up, and then pay for it. Our tires wear out faster, in slow corners we lose speed due to wear on the rear wheels, which reduces lap times. We still have some work to do, but the weekend was still positive.

Question: At the restart you came very close to Max, was there a chance to take the lead?
Lando Norris: I tried, but it didn’t work. We fought hard in turns 10 and 12, but the Red Bull cars are very fast there and we had some problems all weekend. Except when I had newer tires.

So I decided that if I had the chance, that would be it. I used all the energy from the battery and DRS and took a good line in turns one and two, but Max had more grip there.

Question: What do you think of the race in Vegas, will your car be fast there?
Lando Norris: No idea. We didn’t expect to be so competitive in Brazil, where we surprised ourselves. Let’s see.

After Bahrain I stopped making predictions. Everyone expected the Mercedes cars to be very fast this weekend, but they fell back. Everyone expected a good pace from Ferrari. I don’t think anyone knows at this point what the balance of power will be in Vegas.