‘I just kept it cool’ – Lando Norris delighted to ‘give something back’ to McLaren with Sao Paulo win

Lando Norris was thrilled to be able to give McLaren “a little bit of reward for their hard work” by winning the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, which marked his and the team’s third victory of the season.

Although the Briton started from pole position on the damp track, he quickly lost places to Kimi Antonelli and Liam Lawson, but recovered well to move up to second place and set his sights on the race lead.

As the surface dried out, Norris was amongst the first to switch from intermediate to slick tyres, giving him a clear advantage in terms of grip when he returned to challenge the Italian for first place.

A spin for Antonelli opened the door for him to sail back through, and he maintained the position amid more rain and another round of pit stops to cross the line over 14s ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

“It was a very tough race – very, very tough,” Norris reflected. “Obviously, not the best of launches off the line, but a lot of challenges today, obviously, with the conditions.

“Going onto slicks in the wet is always tough, especially when you’re pushing for the lead and trying to catch up a little bit.

“The main thing today was I just kept it cool and I didn’t make any mistakes. I had the pace when I needed to, so it was good. Nice to be back on the top step, and what a place to do it as well.”

McLaren had slightly dropped away from the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull in recent rounds, but upgrades introduced at Interlagos seemed to provide the boost required to get back in the mix.

While Norris had looked strong throughout Free Practice, his skills in the wet made the difference in both Qualifying and the Grand Prix, leaving him grateful he was able to maximise every opportunity over the weekend.

Norris said: “We’re trying, you know. I’m trying my best, and I think this weekend we had an opportunity to get pole yesterday, we had an opportunity to win.

“I feel like most times this year, when there’s been an opportunity, I went for it and we’ve been able to achieve it. So I have to say a big thanks to the team because they’re still working very hard.

“It’s annoying when you can’t give them a good result back, like the last few weeks. But certainly this weekend, I feel like we’ve been able to give something back to them and give them a little bit of reward for their hard work. So always a big thanks to them, and we have to keep pushing till the end of the year.”