Lando Norris Joins Limited List of McLaren Elite Featuring F1 Champions Lewis Hamilton & Jenson Button With Latest Conquest

McLaren had a turbulent start this season, but they have finally found their pace. The young McLaren prodigy Lando Norris scored a podium in the Emilia Romagna GP.

However, the Imola third-place finish was not only the first podium for Norris this season. But with this podium, he also became the latest McLaren driver to win podiums in three consecutive seasons. The young Brit bagged his first podium in the 2020 Austrian GP and then four podiums last season, including the second-place finish in Monza.

First podium of the year! YES, @LandoNorris! #ImolaGP pic.twitter.com/z3ThmJwbaf

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) April 24, 2022

The last driver who achieved this feat before Norris was Jenson Button. The 2009 world champion scored podiums in three consecutive seasons, from 2010 to 2012. Before Button and Norris, Lewis Hamilton achieved this feat with the Woking base. However, the current seven-time world champion didn’t only bag podiums in three consecutive seasons, but he scored in five consecutive seasons.

Lando Norris claims McLaren F1 is the third-best this season

After the first two disappointing races, McLaren F1 showcased significant improvements since the Australian GP. Because Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo finished P5 and P6. Again the driver duo had a great session in Imola during the practice and sprint race.

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There were high hopes from both the drivers in the Imola GP; however, the Honey Badger finished last after his collision with Carlos Sainz at the beginning of the race. Meanwhile, Lando was comfortably driving at P4, and with a slice of luck, he ended up on the podium. Because Charles Leclerc in front of him spun and dropped in positions.

Formula One F1 – Bahrain Grand Prix – Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain – March 18, 2022, McLaren’s Lando Norris during practice REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

After the spectacular Melbourne performance and the Imola podium, the young McLaren driver believes McLaren is now capable of fighting for third place. Norris said, “It was still a reality at the time. A lot of what we saw is still on the car, but we’ve just kind of understood it a bit more.”

The 22-year-old further continued, “We’ve worked on the weaknesses, and we’ve made some improvements. There are a lot of positives from it, but I think we are comfortably third, I would say.”

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McLaren is now in fourth place on the constructors’ standings and 31 points behind Mercedes. So, the Woking base needs to finish ahead of the German constructor in the next races. Let’s see how the McLaren duo performs in the upcoming Miami GP.

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