Lando Norris reflects on F1 season's first half, praising McLaren's constant car development

McLaren driver Lando Norris has had a decent start to the first half of the 2022 Formula 1 season, scoring points in 10 of the first 13 races.

In an interview carried out by the F1 official website, Norris admits that despite there being many season "highlights", the one which stands out for him was claiming the unexpected podium at Imola, where he finished third.

"For myself and my driving and so on, I'm happy," Norris said. "Some good highlights. I don't know how I got a podium in Imola. It just blows my mind.

"With the car that we have, that's quite some achievement, so [it] still makes me smile now, but then there are still a lot of positives."

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The @McLarenF1 duo ??Here's how Norris and Ricciardo 2022 stats stack up at the summer break ??#F1 pic.twitter.com/1MRS9DphVS

'A lot of work'

Norris currently sits seventh in the Drivers' standing on 76 points, while McLaren is fifth in the Constructors' championship and a mere four points off fourth-placed Alpine.

"It's just now we have a lot of work to do" the Brit continued. "The gap to the guys ahead is still massive, and I guess yes, it's close on Saturday, but everyone is closer on Saturday; even last place is a lot closer. It's just the spread on Sunday is bigger than what it has been in past, and we've got to work on that."

With reference to the current summer break from F1 racing, Norris said: "I'll enjoy my break first, and then we will work on it and see what we can do for next time. I think reasonable start to the season, so I'm happy with it."

Constant improvement

For McLaren, the opening few races were tough as the car seemed to lack the pace of the likes of Ferrari and Red