Norris loses P6 by 0.1s at Jeddah, but praises improved showing from McLaren

Lando Norris wasn’t too concerned by losing sixth place to Esteban Ocon by just a tenth of a second in Saudi Arabia, the McLaren driver having been encouraged by his team’s improved pace after a point-less showing in Bahrain.

Norris had to settle for seventh having lost a last-lap scrap to Alpine’s Ocon, the margin between the two just 0.107s as they crossed the line. But, given he started 11th, it was a far better showing than Norris expected going into the weekend.

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“I think I was just a bit unlucky at the end with Esteban, it was the double yellow [caused by Alex Albon’s crash with Lance Stroll] and that was my one chance to pull away and I couldn’t. I think a lot of positives," said Norris.

“P7 – good points, a little bit better than we were expecting but I guess a little bit down to retirements from some other cars, but we made the most of it. Good to see there is some potential in the car and some positives which means we can look forward to some good results,” he added.

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Unfortunately for McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo retired on Lap 35 with a mechanical issue which cost them a possible double points finish. As a result, the team are seventh in the standings ahead of the Australian’s home race on April 08-10.

“We should have had two cars in the points,” continued Norris. ”Daniel drove a good race from his position but he just got unlucky at the end as well, but there are positives, which I think are the main things we have to look at, at the minute.

“I don’t know if it was our fault or the back-end’s fault, we will see; from my side everything is good and I look forward to many more races,” added the Briton.