No advantage for big teams under lockdown - Norris

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McLaren driver Lando Norris has backed the way that the FIA and Formula 1 have handled the fallout from the spread of coronavirus around the world, saying it's important that no team is able to benefit from the lockdown.

F1 was forced to abandon the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in March just hours before the scheduled start of practice. Since then the championship has been on indefinite hold, with all teams now on an extended formal 'summer shutdown' brought forward from August.

Norris says that the shutdown is the right way to handle the situation, and that it's crucial that none of the teams should be able to gain an advantage over their rivals as a result of coronavirus.

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“No one in this current period right now can be developing and doing anything in terms of trying to make the cars quicker," Norris told Motorsport.com this week, lending his full support to the decisions made by F1 CEO Chase Carey and his management team.

"I think everything that they've done and the decisions that they've made are the best for everyone," Norris insisted. “I'm happy with what they're doing, and I think McLaren are pretty happy with the decisions that they're making.

"It is a level playing field at the moment in terms of what everyone can do," he said. "[Which is nothing] apart from being at home and thinking about stuff!

"There's no advantage really for the higher teams and the faster teams with more money," he continued. “Whether it's for the leading teams or whether it's for the slower teams.

"At the end of the day, I'm not the guy that makes decisions," he added. "So yeah, I'm happy with what they're doing.”

Norris is continuing to keep himself race-ready by taking part in multiple Esports competitions, and will also be studying his performances and data from his rookie season.

"I've got a hard drive with pretty much every single thing that I need on every video from last year for myself," he said. "I can quite easily just look at some data or some video and stuff like that.

"If I ever need to look at anything or want to or we're talking over the phone and want to discuss stuff, then we have references regarding to onboard data.

“It's just trying to keep your mind within what Formula 1 is like," he explained. “You don't tend to drive the F1 car as much on the simulator.

"Even when you're doing sim racing you still get a good feel for how you control the car and stuff, but then it's the feedback - how an F1 car is different to cars you drive on the simulator.

"Looking at some video or some data or something like that, it's a good thing.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.