Norris on his teammates: 'Ricciardo is very different to Sainz'

Lando Norris looked set for his first career victory, but the rain in Sochi put a spanner in the works. As a result, the young Briton had to settle for seventh place. Despite this disappointment, Norris is having a fantastic season and is fourth in the world championship.

Performance above expectations

McLaren has clearly made its way back to the top and is currently firmly in third place in the championship. In Monza, the team was even first and second and in Russia, Norris was on pole position. In total the team scored five podium finishes.

Norris also sees the step forward at McLaren. "At the beginning of the year you always expect to take a step forward as a team, but also on a personal level I have improved a lot," Norris said in La Gazzetta dello Sport. "Overall, I think we've developed the whole package and on most of the circuits, we've made a consistent step forward. We're often in the right position to take advantage of opportunities left by Mercedes and Red Bull, but I don't think we expected such a good season."

Switch to Ferrari?

Norris is a popular driver in Italy and the Italian newspaper naturally raises the question if he will ever drive for Ferrari. "At the moment I am happy where I am and I have just renewed my contract with McLaren, with whom I want to win the world championship for both drivers and constructors." Still, you never know in Formula One. "In ten years I don't know what might happen. I have a lot of Italian fans, which was noticeable in Monza. I was met at the hotel and on the track and I could feel their great warmth."

Relationship with teammates

In his first two seasons, Norris drove alongside Carlos Sainz at McLaren, where the two became good friends. This season, Daniel Ricciardo is Norris' teammate. "Daniel is very different from Carlos, also because he is six years older, I think. I became friends with Carlos because we love racing and we were very competitive with each other, even on the simulator or playing golf. We like the same things and it was easy to get along. With Daniel it was different, but he's really the same person you see on TV, he's very nice and we have a lot of good times together. He's a great driver and I'm learning a lot from him."