F1 | Emilia Romagna GP | Sainz praises his former teammate: “Lando was on it the whole weekend”
The Ferrari driver expressed an excellent opinion on Norris’ performance, praising his race and strategy and hoping to battle him soon
Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was a race of other times, one of those that left you gasping until the last curve, and Lando Norris is one of those to thank for it.
The young Briton conquered his second podium after having missed out on third place in qualifying, due to a cancellation of his time for track limits. His performance was superlative, as Norris did not give up and stayed focused for the whole weekend, proving that he has made the “next step as a driver”, as Seidl told MotorLAT in the post-race meeting. His former teammate Carlos Sainz seems to agree with these comments, as he expressed some positive thoughts on his former team and teammate, whom he left after taking a tough decision.
“Honestly, it is very difficult to pick,'' - the Spaniard admitted, reminding his decision - ''I think the McLaren has its strengths and weaknesses. So what makes it like a really nice fight is that we are quick in very different places on the track and it makes it a very fun battle.”
how it started how it ended pic.twitter.com/GefDmRtL29
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 19, 2021
The Woking-based team is doing an outstanding job of course but the one who received more praises by Carlos is Lando Norris - “It looked like this weekend Lando did a very good job of exploiting the whole car potential,” said Sainz according to RaceFans.Net. “He was on it the whole weekend, especially from Saturday onwards. And he did a good race.”
Norris had to thank a gamble he took while switching to soft tyres for the last part of the race, a move that helped Lando to overcome Sainz on the track. “They were, in my opinion, on a slower tyre on the soft at the end of the stint,- Sainz stated - You could see they were gaining a little bit. And that’s why we were behind him, pushing him. But if he would have been on the medium, I think it would have been very difficult to stay in his DRS because he was very quick all weekend.”
The good old times in which there were astonishing battles between McLaren and Ferrari are back, even though for minor position. The Ferrari driver is happy of this fight but he hopes to be able to gain some positions on track that are more “Ferrari- friendly”.
“It is very tight,” he said. “Maybe they had a bit of the upper hand this weekend or they had the upper hand a tiny bit the last two weekends. But as soon as we do a very good weekend and we going to a track that maybe favours us a bit I think we can be ahead.”
Portimao is approaching quickly and it is going to be a good track to see who's faster: Norris' and Sainz's "bromance" on social media is over, it's time to race.
