My name is Lando Norris, I am 21 and I am a driver for McLaren Formula 1 Team. But that you already knew it. I will start my third year in Formula 1 at the winter test in Bahrain the 12th of March, again, you probably knew it already.
There are two...
At Monza, the Sprint race went pretty smoothly, I was able to keep Hamilton behind me. So, thanks to Bottas' penalty, I started 3rd on Sunday with Max and Daniel ahead of me. This was the best chance to get the best team result of the year.
The start of the race was pretty calm, Daniel passed Max right from the start while I managed to keep Hamilton behind me. When it came time for the pit stop game, Red Bull missed Max's stoppage and he ended up behind me. Will warned me that Hamilton would come out of the pits right behind me. As I looked in my mirrors, I saw Max. Max and Lewis together at the first corner... It wasn't going to be a good match. I passed the first two corners quietly, all alone. When I looked in my mirrors again, I saw that Max's car was now above Lewis'. At first, I was happy that they hadn’t crashed into me, so I didn't have to fight, I could just go and try to catch Daniel. The feeling of freedom came over me again, as it often does.
I raised my visor slightly to feel the wind on my face. It felt so good. I really felt free. I smiled. I was 2nd and I thought I could keep this position.
The safety car arrived, of course, for Max and Lewis' accident. I saw the others come in behind me, wisely. On the restart I followed Daniel but soon realised that I was faster than him. "Will, can I pass? I'm faster I think" I asked my engineer. "No, sorry Lando, but you're staying behind" he replied. Well, at least it was clear. The team was playing for victory, and I understood perfectly. On top of that, they were sure to get it at least, Daniel had already won, he knew how to deal with the stress of being in the lead while nobody knew how I would deal with being in the lead, maybe I'd mess it up... So, I stayed quietly behind trying to stay close to Daniel while leaving enough distance so I wouldn't get the DRS or the dirty look he was sending back.
"P2 Lando! P2!" said Will as I crossed the finish line after Daniel. "YES, YES YES YES! Well done guys! Well done to everyone on the spot and at the factory" I replied. I was so happy. I put my car in the parc fermé and got out. I hugged Daniel before jumping into the arms of my team. I saw Tris and hugged her before going to the weigh-in and taking off my helmet to do my interview. I might not have won today but at least I had achieved my best result in F1, and we had achieved the best team result of the year and even the best since 2010. I was just happy about it all.
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