Norris says 'better decisions' paid off on race day in 2020

Lando Norris says a more considered approach last year to his races allowed him to improve his racecraft and his results on Sundays.

Norris delivered 13 top-ten finishes to McLaren in 2020, including a maiden podium at the opening race in Austria.

Asked to pinpoint a particular area in which he improved over the course of the season, the 21-year-old says he definitely improved his racecraft.

"The race is one of the areas I did work on the most over the winter because I realised it was one of my bigger weaknesses," he told the official Formula 1 website.

"It’s something I spent a lot of time on digging into all the details, because there’s a lot of things that happen in the race that come together to make a good race; it's not just… singular things.

"So it’s something I put a lot of focus on and time into and it’s something throughout this year I’ve definitely been much stronger in but there’s still more areas for me to improve and to continue to get better at."

Norris said that using his head allowed him to better exploit the qualities of McLaren's MCL35 which in turn enhanced his results.

• Read also: 'Genuine' Norris praised by 'proud' McLaren boss

"So I can say with a lot more confidence this year that I’m doing a better job in the races, extracting more out of the car and being in positions I can be.

"Because I quite easily could not have been fourth [in the Bahrain Grand Prix] and I quite easily could have crashed… at the start and been out of the race early on.

"I’m making better decisions, touch wood; they’re paying off and allowing for much better results come the end of the day."

Norris is currently isolating n Dubai for two weeks after testing positive for COVID-19 while on holiday in the Emirates.

The young Briton will race this season at McLaren with new recruit Daniel Ricciardo.

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