Lando Norris will always remember the 2022 Formula 1 Spanish GP despite the fact that it could have been a weekend to forget. The Briton arrived touched at the race weekend, and his discomfort grew during the days and accompanied him in each session.
On Saturday he admitted that he was out of shape and his energy levels were “probably the worst” they had been in a long time. “I have problems with my throat and eyes, which doesn’t help,” he lamented after qualifying.
On Sunday, at the drivers parade , the route that the drivers make by truck to greet the fans before the race, he was seen sitting down, sheltered in the shade, unable to interact and visibly very affected.
Then, already on the grid and moments before getting into the car to take the start, he seemed to vomit, but he wanted to compete in the race and in the end it was not bad at all. The Briton, who started 11th after having taken his last lap in Q2 of the classification on Saturday for exceeding the limits of the track, managed to sneak into the top 10 and took home an eighth place, as the only driver of his team who scored (Daniel Ricciardo finished 12th).
After such an effort, Norris was unable to attend his meeting with the media in the ‘corralito’ of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and without removing his helmet, accompanied by his team and his girlfriend and visibly exhausted, he went to the medical center .
Who did attend the microphones was Andreas Seidl , director of McLaren F1, who revealed that what the pilot suffered from was tonsillitis.
“Obviously you don’t feel good all weekend when your energy levels are low with the tonsillitis he was suffering from,” Seidl said.
“It was a very demanding race, especially with these high temperatures, so I was quite discouraged at the end of the race and after it, but I have to thank the great medical support within the team that he has around him.” .
Norris passed the COVID-19 tests that F1 protocol still requires, ruling out having contracted the virus again.
The suffocating heat that was experienced in the Spanish GP gave even more value to what the pilot achieved in those conditions, as his boss pointed out.
“I can’t thank him enough for fighting and showing great fighting spirit, because in the end he allowed us to get those four points,” Seidl continued.
Although some may think that it was really reckless, Seidl wanted to clarify that everything was done under medical supervision, and that Norris had to be declared fit to compete.
“It was great to see the commitment on their part, but it’s clear that we obviously have a doctor involved in decisions like that and we would never risk Lando’s health. That needs to be clear as well.”
“But after the doctor gave the green light and after it was also clear from Lando that he could do it, we went for it.”
“For the next four days the objective is clear, we have to make sure that he rests well in the next four days before competing in Monaco.”
If Norris cannot be at the Monaco GP, the next round of the world championship in just a few days, McLaren would have Mercedes Formula E drivers Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne available, and even Alpine reserve Oscar Piastri after the agreement reached between the teams last March.
