'Arrived in F1 with a bang'published at 03:42 Greenwich Mean Time 17 March 2019
Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Melbourne
Image source, Getty ImagesLando Norris admitted to “a lot of nerves” going into qualifying, so one can only begin to imagine how the 19-year-old will be feeling as he prepares for his debut grand prix in the McLaren. Norris has always looked like he might be a bit special, and he has arrived in F1 with a bang with eighth place on the grid on his debut.
Sporting director Gil De Ferran - no mean driver himself in his day - said: “He’s a very skilled and talented driver. He hasn’t put a foot wrong. He peaked when he needed. He’s such a young man.” The whole tone at McLaren after qualifying was basically, ‘let’s not get too excited, this went well, but we’ll have difficult days to come and we need to keep progressing’. But there is no doubt that this was a great fillip for them after all the work they have done to sort out their problems following a difficult 2018.
