‘I was in a pretty bad way' – Norris explains pain problems in Austria but says he’ll be fine for British GP

Lando Norris will long have fond memories of the Red Bull Ring after scoring his first podium in the Austrian GP, then following it up with fifth in the Styrian GP. The latter was particularly impressive given he was suffering from chest pain – which was so bad he needed painkillers just to be able to drive the car…

The McLaren driver, who will this weekend compete on home soil at Silverstone for the British GP, complained of pains after Friday practice at the Red Bull Ring, and subsequently headed back to the UK before Hungary to see a specialist and have some scans to diagnose the problem.

READ MORE: Norris reveals he visited UK specialist to solve chest pain issue after Styrian GP

They revealed he had suffered bruising – the result of having got back into an F1 car after a long period of time – but he’s confident he’ll be fine for Silverstone.

“I’m doing better thanks,” he said in a video conference call on Zoom. “Hungary was much better already than the Red Bull Ring race – round two. There I was in a pretty bad way. I couldn’t drive without being on the painkillers at all so that was a bit of a lifesaver from my end in just letting me get out on track and drive.

“By the time we went to Hungary it was already better and obviously I went back and saw the specialist and the doctors and everyone and we kind of figured out a bit more what the problem was. It wasn’t something that we could just fix, it’s something that we think is going to take time.

“Even those few days of time between the two race weekends I felt better and I did FP3 with no painkillers and I was fine, and I performed well and so on. My only worry was going into the race or qualifying when you have the highest brake pressure, and then the race when it’s just the longevity of it that something could arise.

READ MORE: Norris vows not to get ahead of himself after flying start to 2020

“It wasn’t that I couldn’t drive, it was just something I was a bit more hesitant about thinking what happens if it does come up in the race? Then I might struggle.

"So I was fine from my side and from what I knew, but I think it’s just something that will take a bit of time to get better from my side, because it’s just more bruising basically. It was just pure bruising from driving a Formula 1 car having not driven one for so long. So I should be fine come Silverstone,” he added.