Seidl says 'flying' Norris has made 'the next step'

McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl praised Lando Norris for his impressive podium finish in the Emilia Romagna GP, insisting the Briton has made "the next step" as an F1 driver.

From the outset on Sunday at Imola, Norris was on a forward march, racing as high as second behind future race winner Max Verstappen in the second half of the 63-lap race.

Norris complemented his flawless drive in the tricky conditions with impeccable tyre management, crucially extracting 31 laps on his second stint from Pirelli's soft compound tyre.

The 21-year-old secured in Italy his second career podium in F1 and left his team boss thoroughly impressed.

"Lando is flying at the moment," Seidl said after Sunday's race, speaking to Sky Sports F1. "He definitely made the next step as a driver also.

"Not just here, already in Bahrain, you could see in winter that he definitely made the next step but also as a person and as a driver.

"I think he digested last season, together with his engineering team, in the right way.

"It's normal also that these young guys make steps especially in the first years, they have to make it, otherwise they will never make it to the top, but it's just great how he's putting it off."

• Read also: Norris delighted to secure Imola podium 'on merit'

At Imola, Norris outpaced teammate Daniel Ricciardo for good measure, but Seidl highlighted his team's strategy call on the restart when it opted to put Norris on the soft rubber while the majority of the field chose the medium tyre.

"He has the confidence to put the laps in and what he did today again was great," Seidl said.

"A great call from the team putting the soft tyres on at the restart. It was a bit of a gamble if that works out to get to the end but it worked out, so great call from the team."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter