McLaren driver Lando Norris has said he has to be “happy” with finishing seventh in the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix.
Norris qualified P8 on Saturday after both McLaren drivers had struggled at the track in free practice, as the circuit’s characteristics weren’t suited to their car.
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Speaking after the grand prix, Norris described the Turkish GP as “very long and tough” due to the wet conditions.
“A very long and tough race today mainly because of the conditions,” the 21-year-old said in McLaren’s team report.
“It was very difficult to keep the Inters in a good window during the race, but I think we achieved everything we could in the end, so I have to be happy with P7.
“It was damage limitation for us at this track, but we came away with the best result that we could.
“So, happy with that and we just need to make more improvements for the next one. It’s important we recover and keep pushing next time out!” Norris added.
His McLaren team-mate Daniel Ricciardo was knocked out in Q1 and started the grand prix in P16.
Ricciardo finished the race in P13 after struggling to cut his way through the pack.
“I think we had maybe four laps in the race where we had good pace but the rest was hard,” Ricciardo said.
“In the beginning, we struggled a lot with front grip, so it was really hard to stay close to the others, and then we pitted for a new tyre.
“After that, I didn’t have great rear grip to start and was struggling but after a while it came good.
“We had probably four good laps in that stint where I could feel like I could really push on the tyre, which was what I was looking for. Of the entire race, that was the positive,” he added.
Ferrari, McLaren’s rival for third in the Constructors’ Championship, outscored them in Istanbul, with Charles Leclerc finishing fourth and Carlos Sainz crossing the finish line in eighth.
The Spaniard started the race towards the very back of the field as he was handed a grid drop for running a fourth power unit this season.
Despite McLaren’s disappointing Turkish GP, they still have a 7.5-point lead over Ferrari in the Constructors’ Standings.
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