Lando Norris baulked at being called "best of the rest" by Sky Sports pundit Simon Lazenby as the McLaren ace looked back on his results in 2022.
McLaren have struggled for consistency all year and lost out to rivals Alpine in the hunt for fourth place in the constructors' championship. But on a personal level, Norris has again been impressive and finished a comfortable seventh place in the drivers' standings, behind only those representing the 'big three' teams. He was the only driver not representing Red Bull, Mercedes or Ferrari to stand on a podium in 2022.
Speaking to Sky Sports after managing sixth place in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Lazenby pointed that out to him and used that phrase "best of the rest". But that sparked an immediate response from the young Brit who interjected: "Yeah, I hate that saying, to be honest mate – it's all I've heard this season."
It was a repeat of what Norris said two months ago, when he told the Independent : "I'm not here to keep finishing P7." Instead, he has ambitions of breaking the monopoly that the 'big three' have of the top spots and, hopefully, challenging for race wins and world titles.
Reacting to his race at the Yas Marina Circuit, he continued: "It was a good day for us – as good as days get, to be honest. P6, and fastest lap as well, which must mean I was the quickest driver out there today. I'm happy – we've ended the season on a high and given the team a good amount of energy to go into the off-season.
"We were close, we tried – Daniel [Ricciardo, his McLaren team-mate] was P9 as well – we just didn't quite have the magical race we needed to get ahead of Alpine in the championship. But we finished where we deserved to finish.
"It's probably been one of our best weekends, in terms of our actual pace compared to the leaders. So there are positives – I think the whole season has had ups and downs, and sadly not enough ups."
Asked by Jenson Button why that has been the case, Norris added: "It's our car, the characteristics of the car. For me it's the front, that's all I need in my car – I don't need rear tyres. When I have front we can be quick and we can perform well... but as soon as we destroy the front tyres we're half a second or one second off the pace.
"It's just the characteristics of the car, and what it relies upon too much. But we know all of this and it's something we've had for years, sadly. It's out job to get rid of that for next season."
