Lando Norris reflects on his 2022 F1 season: Some of the boring races were some of my best ones

Lando Norris had a brilliant 2022 F1 season with McLaren. He topped the midfield table and finished seventh, right after Lewis Hamilton and other frontrunners. The Brit was also miles ahead of his teammate Daniel Ricciardo. However, he recently described his season as boring and underwhelming.

Speaking to GPFans, Lando Norris explained how some of the dullest races were where he performed the best. He claimed that many of his great performances went under the radar as the frontrunners and other midfield battles were prioritized. Norris gave the example of the United States GP, where he overtook Fernando Alonso and performed well.

He said:

“Some of the boring races, where you probably didn’t see me on TV were some of my best ones. Texas was a good one, getting Fernando [Alonso] with a couple of laps to go. Some of the boring ones have actually been some of my best races, nailing a strategy, consistency, nailing an A-to-B, start-to-finish. I just haven’t had as much excitement compared to the last few years.”

When asked about his best race weekend, Lando Norris spoke about Imola where he and the team achieved quite a lot. However, he also mentioned Singapore being a great weekend for McLaren as a whole since Daniel Ricciardo also topped the midfield table and finish fifth in the race. Norris said:

"I would say Imola because it is the one that we achieved the most in. But I don’t think we were any quicker in Imola than we were in any other race. Singapore was a good weekend for us as a team (Norris P4, Ricciardo P5). As a morale booster, Singapore was perfect for us.”

Overall, Lando Norris wasn't too thrilled after the 2022 F1 season, speaking about several uneventful races and his unnoticed performances. Nonetheless, his position in the drivers' championship shows how strong the 23-year-old driver was, especially when compared to his teammate.

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Lando Norris debunks fake rivalry allegations against Daniel Ricciardo

Lando Norris was much faster than his teammate Daniel Ricciardo in 2022. Hence, several fans and media houses started speculating whether there was a possible rivalry between the two McLaren drivers. However, Norris expressed his frustration towards these allegations and debunked them.

Speaking to the Mirror, the Briton said:

"It just frustrates me when I see people trying to make it look like we hate each other or that we don't like each other, or have fun or whatever. I hate that people think that because there's not been one case where that's been the truth."

Usually, when these kinds of performance differences are seen within a team, people might speculate about a rivalry brewing between the teammates. However, Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo didn't show any signs of hate against each other. Both had a good relationship and have spoken positively about each other on many occasions.