“I’m Just Afraid to Brake Anywhere”-Lando Norris on Painkillers Ahead of the Styrian Grand Prix

McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris suffered a tough day at the office on Friday. The young Briton had put in a brilliant performance last weekend, bagging his maiden podium finish in the process.

However, on Thursday, Norris couldn’t quite channel the same form he showed during the opening weekend.

He finished the first free practice session in a very disappointing 14th place. Although he managed to set the 8th best time in free practice two, it was numbed by the fact that he got a 3 place grid penalty for Sunday’s race.

However, after Friday’s practice sessions, the young Briton revealed that he wasn’t in the best of shape with respect to his physical health.

Lando Norris reveals that he had severe chest pain during Friday’s practice sessions

Norris revealed the cause of his underperformance on Friday to Formula1. He said, “It’s just something, I don’t know where, in my chest or something. I hit the brakes and in the compression, it spikes up massively, so I’m just afraid to brake anywhere, which is not ideal around here.

“It’s been setting me back a lot today. It’s been pretty frustrating. I’ve not felt confident in the car in terms of pushing it and so on, so hopefully I can get fixed and be ready for the next (session).”

Touching on the subject of his 3 place grid penalty, Lando said, “A bit of a silly move by me. I just saw the yellow flag, I was on a push lap at the time and two of the other guys were on a slow lap, or an out lap.

“They pulled over to let me pass knowing I was on my push lap. I’ve let off when I’ve seen the yellow flags and I braked. But I just haven’t braked and gone to the same speed as them.

“The rules are the rules. It’s unfortunate because I let off, but I just didn’t do everything I should have done.”

With Saturday’s Qualifying session in jeopardy due to the weather, FP2 may well be what decides the starting grid for Sunday’s race. However, that will only happen if qualification can’t be completed even on Sunday.

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McLaren fans will be hoping that Norris recovers from whatever is ailing him and that he can replicate the pace he showed during the season opener.