Lando Norris reviews his bad luck during debut Formula 1 season
F1 News
Lando Norris picked up more than his fair share of bad luck during his debut Formula 1 season. The McLaren driver was in a position to pick up a strong points haul but was only let down in a number of events. The Brit endured mechanical issues, pit-stop mistakes and collisions.
The 20-year-old retired from 6 races (28.57%) in his first F1 season but still managed to score 49 championship points. This tally would have been significantly higher if his engine hadn't have failed on the penultimate lap when he was set for a fifth-place finish.
Norris admitted he was able to manage the frustration initially, but he couldn't help being rattled once the bad luck started to stack up.
“The first few I kind of didn’t get so annoyed about because I know it kind of happens. Then I had Spa, Paul Ricard and a few more. Canada. Then I got a bit more annoyed because it was happening a bit more regularly. I had a couple more and it kind of got to the point where I was realising more it’s nothing I could change or affect. Or the people around me, it wasn’t our fault these things that happened. Just mistakes that are made," Norris is quoted by RaceFans.net.
“So kind of the first few I was quite easily able to forgive, the next lot were then frustrating because of Spa and everything, it was my best result. And then going to Mexico with a pit stop [problem] it was like, this happens, I need to move on, nothing I can do.”
McLaren in 2020
McLaren were the most improved team during the 2019 season and Andreas Seidl's personnel will want to build on that performance. Carlos Sainz (eventually) stepped on the podium in Brazil so they know the car has the performance should the top teams trip over each other. Without any major rule changes or tyre changes, McLaren will remain confident they can replicate the results moving forward or perhaps improve further with less of the "bad luck".