Lando Norris revealed on the Saturday of the Spanish Grand Prix that he was suffering due to illness, which was later confirmed by McLaren. It was tonsillitis, although that did not prevent the Briton from finishing in eighth position in the Montmeló race.
The Englishman had been fighting his pain on the same grid, and at one point it was possible to see on the broadcast how ill he was, something that, added to the extreme heat of that moment in Barcelona, was fatal. During the race he kept his team informed about how he was feeling, and after crossing the finish line he was released from his obligations to the media in order to recover.
The FIA granted Norris an exemption at Friday’s press conference in Monaco so he could focus on being in the best possible shape for the start of free practice, where he finished fifth, behind only the Red Bulls and Ferrari, and one tenth ahead of his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo.
McLaren principal Andreas Seidl explained that the team had been working to ensure their driver was in the best possible shape for the Principality event, and although he was still struggling, they hoped he would make a full recovery over the weekend.
“After the Barcelona race, the most important thing was for us as a team to give him as much time as possible to recover, which we did,” the German said when asked by Motorsport.com about the young Briton’s condition.
“He had great support from our doctors and his personal trainer to make sure he was back with all the energy coming out of the garage. That’s what has happened,” Seidl continued.
“It may not be 100% yet, but it’s already a lot better,” he explained. “I don’t expect any more problems for the rest of the weekend.”
Had Norris been unable to participate in Monaco, McLaren would have been able to call on one of Mercedes’ reserve drivers, Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne, as well as Alpine reserve Oscar Piastri , as part of their deals with these two teams.
“As always, for every grand prix, we have reserve drivers ready,” said the Woking boss. “We have different deals in place, and in the event that Lando [Norris] wasn’t fit, we would have had one of them ready.”
Seidl said that the first free practice in Monaco had been “one of his best testing sessions so far this year”, ensuring that both drivers responded well at this track.
“Both cars work, both drivers felt relatively comfortable with the car. We didn’t have any problems, that’s what we expect when it comes to this special weekend here in Monaco,” added the German.
“It is very important to arrive in one piece due to the situation of spare elements that we have at the moment in Formula 1 with the new rules. At the same time, it is early, but it is a good start,” said the team’s head English.
