McLaren had a mediocre race in Austria. After getting the worst of the fight with Haas, Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo were not very excited
McLaren has ups and downs in the Formula 1 2022 season. On some tracks, it looks like a powerful team in the middle of the pack and scares even the most powerful teams; on others, like in Austria, home of Sunday's race, the situation is different. In the midst of a mediocre performance, McLaren was slower than Alpine and was even worse compared to Haas. Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo tried to stay positive, but were despondent after the race in Spielberg.
Norrris, who finished in seventh place, even said that the team had fulfilled the goals set before the start. Still, he was not so excited. There was still time to regret the penalty he suffered for exceeding the track limits.
"I'm reasonably happy with today. The only objection was my 5s punishment because of the track limits. You get three of the cautions at the start of the race, so I was on the limit for a long time. It's a tough track to stay on the limits," he assessed.
"And it's like that especially when you're fighting with the car or pushing to get close to the car in front. We could have got to Schumacher or even fought with him, but we achieved our pre-race goal," he assured.
Ricciardo, who finished ninth, admitted: he thought the orange car would perform better on the Austrian track.
"It was good, I'm happy that I made progress and got points," he celebrated.
"I would have liked a little more pace. Yesterday was better, but today was not always what I would have liked, especially in the first stint. I locked up my tires in turn one and I don't even remember anymore. I got a square spot on the tire and had trouble in right turns. The track position was good, but then we didn't have the pace. It got better with the new tires, but it wasn't everything I expected," he said.
"Overall, it was a decent race. Solid, but only decent. We weren't fast on the first lap, but the cars got into the points," he finished.
The 2022 Formula One season continues in two weeks, July 22-24, at Paul Ricard in the French GP.