Lando Norris on podium: "I thought I had fudged it up!"
The exciting young driver put in a superb effort to take advantage of Hamilton's penalty
Lando Norris celebrated his podium finish at the Austrian Grand Prix by admitting he thought he had made a mess of his big moment in the manic closing stages.
After a double safety car period late on bunched up the pack, both Norris and McLaren team-mate Carlos Sainz, along with Racing Point's Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari, were chasing down the leading pair of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton.
After Hamilton had collided with Alex Albon in the Red Bull and received a five-second penalty, Norris had the opportunity to sneak onto the podium.
Courtesy of the fastest lap at the death, the 20-year-old finished 4.8secs behind Hamilton to move up a place along with Leclerc, who finished second.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Norris, who was forced to change his face mask at the start of the FIA’s top-three driver press conference due to it being soaked with champagne, said: "I'm speechless!
"I think there were a few points in the race where I thought I fudged it up quite a bit! I dropped to fifth with a few laps to go and Carlos [Sainz] was almost getting past me.
"I managed to get back past Perez, and I ended up on the podium! I kept going, trying to give it my all, a pretty cool last few laps trying to push as much as I can.
"I'm really proud of the team, considering where we were a few years ago to last year, to now. I think it's a pretty good achievement and I'm proud to be part of it all."
Before you go...
Bottas wins season-opening thriller as Hamilton hit with penalties in Austria
Related
More F1 news
Latest F1 news
Recommended by the editors
24h Nürburgring
Racing superstar wins two races at Nurburgring and Spa at the SAME TIME - here's how he did it
F1 Social
'George Russell on Max Verstappen hate watch?' Fans pile in on F1 star's 'shady' Nurburgring 24 hour post
F1 News & Gossip
F1 legend gives update to fans after back surgery
Max Verstappen
Mercedes boss delighted with Max Verstappen decision to race for them
Races
-
Grand Prix of Australia 2026
-
Grand Prix of China 2026
-
Grand Prix of Japan 2026
-
Grand Prix of Bahrain 2026
-
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2026
-
Miami Grand Prix 2026
-
Grand Prix du Canada 2026
-
Grand Prix De Monaco 2026
-
Gran Premio de Barcelona-Catalunya 2026
-
Grand Prix of Austria 2026
-
Grand Prix of Great Britain 2026
-
Grand Prix of Belgium 2026
-
Grand Prix of Hungary 2026
-
Dutch Grand Prix 2026
-
Grand Prix of Italy 2026
-
Gran Premio de España 2026
-
Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2026
-
Grand Prix of Singapore 2026
-
Grand Prix of the United States 2026
-
Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2026
-
Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2026
-
Las Vegas Grand Prix 2026
-
Qatar Grand Prix 2026
-
Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2026
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Editorial & corporate information
Avenue HQ
10–12 East Parade
Leeds
LS1 2BH
United Kingdom Regional correspondence
View contact page