McLaren's Norris hungry for first taste of victory

Lando Norris heads into the 2022 season hoping to put the pain of last year's near-miss in Russia behind him with a maiden Formula One win.

The Briton enjoyed the most successful season of his career last year, scoring four podiums and his first pole position on his way to sixth in the overall standings.

But the 22-year-old lost an almost certain win at the Russian Grand Prix after a bold tyre gamble in changing weather conditions backfired and dropped him down the field.

“It’s hard to say how much that still hurts especially with how many people still bring it up,” said Norris at the launch of McLaren’s 2022 car.

“I would love to just get it out of the way and know what that feeling is like to win a race.

"But, at the same time, just got to wait and see and hopefully it’s not too far away,” added the Briton.

Norris’ performance last season has earned him a long-term contract extension keeping him at McLaren until the end of 2025 at least.

The team, who took their first win since 2012 with Daniel Ricciardo in Monza last year, are still in a building-up phase and have big ambitions of eventually returning to the thick of the title fight.

But Norris, who made his debut with McLaren in 2019 after graduating from a test and reserve role, said he wasn’t feeling the weight of expectation. 

“I don’t know if it’s just my experience now but I feel like I’m in a more comfortable space and I’m just able to deal with the pressure a bit easier and not recognise it as much,” said Norris, who recently moved to Monaco. 

“There’ll always be people saying I’ve done a bad job or a good job or whatever it is. 

“I just need to get on with my job and do the best I can.”  

(Reporting by Abhishek Takle; editing by Toby Davis)