F1 pilot: “I was a teammate of Leclerc and Verstappen. He is faster than them”

Williams Racing driver Carlos Sainz praised the development of his former teammate Lando Norris, who won the first Formula 1 championship of his career last month.

Norris rose to the top of the general classification towards the end of the season following a dip in form from teammate Oscar Piastri, and then managed to hold off Max Verstappen’s late attack.

For the 26-year-old Briton, the title was the logical conclusion of an almost seven-year journey in F1; He made his debut at McLaren, where he raced with Sainz in the first two seasons.

Recalling Norris’s first years in Formula 1, Sainz noted that the Briton’s natural speed was evident from the very beginning.

“What I immediately saw from Lando was an incredible ability to drive the car to the limit and produce very strong qualifying runs,” Sainz said.

“I’m partnered with Charles, Max and Lando, all the best riders in the peloton. And I can say this: in terms of speed, Lando is in no way inferior to anyone. On a good day, he’s even faster than everyone else.”

At the same time, the Spaniard emphasized that Norris’ main improvement is not the increase in pure speed, but the increase in stability and versatility.

“What he has improved the most is his consistency throughout the season and getting stronger on tracks where he was previously weak. Now he is fast in all conditions and on every track,” Sainz said.

Norris has become a more versatile driver than the Spaniard, but his top speed remains the same as at the beginning of his career.

Sainz concluded: “When you come to Formula 1 you are already as fast as possible. Then it all depends on how you learn to be fast in every corner and on every track.”