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Lando Norris is more optimistic about the prospects of McLaren after the team's resurgence in the last two races. The season started on a bad note for McLaren in Bahrain as the car was the 8th fastest car on the grid at best.
Ever since, McLaren have made significant progress in the next two races as Lando Norris qualified P4 in the Australian GP.
Lando Norris himself was quite optimistic about the future with McLaren as he revisits the track where he scored a podium last season. Norris finished third in his McLaren in a rain-affected race last season and was looking forward to the race in Imola.
“I’m excited to be back at Imola. It was a great race for me last year, scoring my first podium of 2021. The circuit is fast, with some iconic features which should be interesting to tackle in the new cars. The sprint always adds an extra bit of excitement for the fans, so I’m looking forward to seeing how the weekend plays out.”
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At the same time, though, the McLaren driver was quite pragmatic about where the team was in the pecking order.
According to Lando Norris, he didn't feel that McLaren was back to being a podium contender (like that used to be the case last season) and there was still some work that need to be done for the team to get to where it wanted to be.
“We are not back fighting for podiums just yet. But hopefully w,e can keep moving forward and get the most out of this weekend. Australia was a more positive weekend for us, but we know we still have a lot of work to do to get to where we want to be. Let’s keep improving, keep learning more about the car and be ready to take advantage of any opportunities that come up.”
Lando Norris responsible for McLaren's rise to fourth in the championship
Looking at the constructor's championship, one would be hard-pressed to understand that McLaren was the 8th best in the first race of the season and found itself fourth in the standings after only the third race of the season.
Part of this climb to fourth can be attributed to Norris. After a pointless rocky start in Bahrain, Norris has been able to score big points for McLaren in the next two races and it has helped McLaren ascend to the top of the midfield.
