Seidl very satisfied with his driver: 'That's simply great to see'

Big step forward

The driver has made big steps forward in his short career and so far he has scored points in every race. It is not for nothing that McLaren has extended the contract with the young British driver because he is definitely championship material. This is partly because of his performance, but also because of his general attitude and professional attitude.

On that, team boss Andreas Seidl let slip to Racer.com. "I think with everything we have seen so far from him it just shows that he has made a big step forward. What is simply great to see is that even after a qualifying lap that didn’t go to plan or a race start that didn’t go to plan, he keeps the overview."

"He stays calm, he knows his opportunities are coming, he manages the tires when he has to and then he uses the potential which is there when the opportunities come up in the race. That’s obviously great to see how he grew into this over the last two and a half years." So in Seidl's eyes, Norris is a very controlled driver who knows exactly what he's doing.

Reliable car

McLaren have had their reliability issues in the past, but that has all gone like snow in the sun. The car of Norris, but also Ricciardo, is reliable and Seidl is very happy with that. "I’m obviously very happy with what I’m seeing there", and that doesn't just refer to the car, but also to the team doing a good job on strategy, pit stops and more.

Does that also create confidence for the next two races in Austria, where Norris took his first podium last year? In a way it does, but Seidl remains realistic about the chances, because things can go either way in Formula 1. The team boss concludes: "It’s so difficult to predict — we went to so many races the last three years and thought we were strong and then we were not the strongest, and the other way round! We had strong races in Austria the last two years, so we are looking forward to it."