When the heavens opened in Sochi and Lando Norris’ first Grand Prix triumph slipped through his fingers, he was “heartbroken.” But, days later, he was able to recognize the benefits and believes he would be able to behave better in the future if he finds himself in the same position…

“It has [eased],” said Norris of the heartbreak when speaking for the first time since the race to F1.com in Italy at the launch of his own kart team LN Racing Kart. “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. I’m better now and ready for the next challenge.”

Norris was holding off Lewis Hamilton, who had lost and recovered the lead as the Grand Prix got underway – but a choice to stay on slicks when the rain began – and then worsened – left him stranded, and he eventually crossed the finish in seventh place.

He had dominated the race up to that point, considering he had only led one racing lap heading into Sochi, and now, reflecting on that afternoon, he believes that suffering such pain so early in his career – this is his third F1 campaign – will only serve to strengthen him.

“It’s not just something people say, it definitely is true [that tough experiences make you stronger],” said Norris. “You do learn probably more from the hard moments. You always learn things. Even if you win a race, you can learn things.

“Definitely 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.

“I feel like I have a long career in F1, it’s nice in a way to get it out early, so that when these things arise in the future, or in my future years in F1, I’ll be able to react better.”

Hamilton was full of praise for Norris’ work in Russia, and a number of other drivers, including George Russell, sent letters of support to the Briton.

“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. 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.

“So I guess 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.

“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.”

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