Lando Norris says he has been more aggressive with his starts in recent races and believes the approach has paid off.
Earlier in the year the McLaren driver said he was being conservative at the start of races to reduce the chance of being involved in a collision and increase his experience of driving. However he has become more bold with his first-lap tactics in recent races.“From, I guess the best one is from Spa onwards, that was like the perfect example,” he said. “I was a little bit more attacking and it turned out to be my best first corner of the whole season.”
At the last race he was unfortunate enough to collect debris from Charles Leclerc’s collision with Max Verstappen, which forced him to pit. “In Japan I was up to fifth or whatever, and then there was the crash in front and I had to back off.”
Norris said he is still being slightly restrained in his approach. “Even now I still want to do the races, I’ve still got a lot to learn, so there’s still maybe a little bit that I leave,” he said.
“If I wanted to and if I really needed to, and if I see an opportunity, then I still go for it. But there’s always a decision whether you take the risk.
“Maybe it goes well, maybe it doesn’t. Or do you sit behind for one corner and then maybe do in the next corner, something like that.
“So especially from halfway through the season onwards, the past few races, I’ve been more attacking. It’s always turned out to be much better. I’ve gone forwards and not always backwards.”
Before the summer break Norris lost 1.5 places per race on lap one on average. Since then he has gained 1.8 on average at each race.
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Lando Norris’s starts in 2019
How many places Norris has gained (positive) or lost (negative) on the first lap of races in 2019:
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2019 F1 season
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