Norris insists he's 'ready for the next challenge'

A weekend on from the devastating disappointment following the climax of the Russian Grand Prix, McLaren driver Lando Norris insists that he's ready to move on and face the next challenge in his F1 career.

Norris took his first pole position in Sochi and appeared to be on course for victory over Lewis Hamilton when late rain sent him sliding off track when he and the team failed to react in time choosing when to switch from slicks to inters.

At the time Norris was left in tears and admitted that he was 'heartbroken' to miss out on the chance of a win, just a fortnight after his team mate Daniel Ricciardo had been triumphant in Monza.

But Norris has pledged to bounce back stronger and learn from the mistakes of Russia so that the next time victory is within reach he will hold on to the bitter end.

• Read also: Norris underwent two-day sim session after Sochi defeat

“It has," Norris told the official Formula 1 website this week when asked if the feeing of heartbreak had eased in the days since. "I’m better now and ready for the next challenge.

“I had Monday off to get over it myself and then was already in McLaren on Tuesday and spent a lot of time with my engineers, our whole group, going through everything with a bit more clarity the decisions we made."

Norris said he was a believer in the old adage that tough experiences make you stronger in the long term.

“It’s not just something people say, it definitely is true," he insisted. “You do learn probably more from the hard moments. You always learn things. Even if you win a race, you can learn things.

"When you have to make these split-second decisions - when it’s not an easy decision, and you need so many different factors involved - there is a lot of things you can learn.

The 21-year-old Briton said that in a way it was good that this had happened now, so early in his career. “I feel like I have a long career in F1

"It’s nice in a way to get it out early," he commented. "When these things arise in the future, or in my future years in F1, I’ll be able to react better.”

Norris had also been buoyed by many messages of support received since the end of last week's race, with Hamilton among those praising the incredible job he'd done leading for 30 laps.

“I got quite a few messages and not necessarily from drivers,” he said. “Obviously everyone within McLaren and a lot of people even from different sports.

“I got a lot of messages from a lot of people which in some ways help. There were a lot of 'Your time will come!' But no matter what, they definitely helped.”

"It was more of a time when people see it as an emotion-attached sport, rather than cars driving round in circles, as lot of people like to say," he added.

"They saw the feelings we have as drivers, the passion we have for the sport, the desire to win. You want to do the best job you can for the team.

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