McLaren to 'make amends' for missed double score - Lando Norris

Australian Grand Prix

McLaren to 'make amends' for missed double score - Norris

Ricciardo's retirement in Saudi Arabia cost McLaren a double point haul

Sam Hall

Saturday 9 April 2022 02:30

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Lando Norris has revealed his hope McLaren can "make amends" for missing out on a double points haul in Saudi Arabia at this weekend's Australian Grand Prix.

After struggling in the second pre-season test and at the opening F1 race, both of which were in Bahrain, McLaren appeared set to secure a sizeable number of points in Saudi Arabia.

Although Norris took the flag to finish seventh, Ricciardo was not so fortunate after retiring in the closing stages.

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"I'm hoping it's going to be a little bit more like Saudi, especially with the updates to the track," explained Norris.

"It’s a bit quicker and hopefully that plays a little into our favour but I'm not expecting any magical things or the car to come alive all of a sudden. It's still going to be a tough weekend but, of course, we're hoping for Q3.

"There was potential for a double points finish in Saudi, so hopefully we can make amends for that this weekend."

Ricciardo to be boosted by home advantage

Norris may head his team-mate in the standings, but the 22-year-old is all too aware the partisan crowd will act to boost home hero Ricciardo, something that could see the Australian gain the upper hand.

"It's Daniel's home race so he has at least a three or four times advantage here," added Norris with a smile.

"So that would help him but it's a bit in the unknown I guess. It's a new track so we do genuinely have to see what it's going to be like.

"I'm hoping it's a little bit more in line with how it was in Saudi compared to Bahrain because Saudi was a much better weekend.

"But you know, we've not brought any updates or upgrades or anything and we didn't for Saudi.

"It’s just the difference in track showed how much the car can perform when it's in a better performance window and how much of a struggle it is when it's not in that window."