Andreas Seidl does not think Lando Norris will need a pick-me-up after his terrific start to the 2021 season came to an end in Barcelona.
Norris had finished third, fourth and fifth for McLaren in the year’s first three races, being beaten only by Mercedes and Red Bull cars.
But that impressive run was always going to grind to a halt at some time and it duly did so in the Spanish Grand Prix, where the 21-year-old Briton came home eighth.
In doing so, he was two places behind his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, who enjoyed his strongest weekend since joining McLaren during the winter.
Norris was not helped by qualifying ninth after running through some gravel left on the track in Q3 and having to use an extra set of tyres in Q1 after his first run was compromised when held up by Nikita Mazepin.
An individual who has spoken of being hard on himself when things have not worked out, as recently as the last few days Norris has featured in social media initiatives to promote Mental Health Awareness Week.
An important message. Well said, @LandoNorris. ??#MentalHealthAwarenessWeek https://t.co/YCA52D8oVS
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) May 11, 2021
Get the Lando look: The best Norris merch for 2021
However, his team principal, Seidl, does not have any fears for how the driver will be feeling after his least productive week of the season so far – which was disappointing only compared to the high standards Norris has been setting.
“I think there’s no need to pick him up, in the end we have to accept how this weekend went,” said Seidl, quoted by Motorsport Week.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to finish higher in qualifying despite having a car that had more potential. We all know about the circumstances. So it’s important also to simply move on.
“In the race, I think he did what he could do from his side, we did from the team side what we could do and it was simply not possible to do more than P8, which is something you have to accept.
“I think you need to look also at the positive side. He could move up one position on a track where it’s simply difficult to overtake. And it’s important that we still managed to score 12 points on a race weekend when Ferrari were quite strong.
“Lando, so far, has had an incredible start to the season with incredible performances so there’s no need to pick him up. He’s fine. And I’m sure he will strike back together with us in the next races.”
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