Lando Norris has said that receiving praise from his fellow race-winning Formula 1 drivers in reaction to his success at the Miami Grand Prix “means a little bit more”.
Norris ended his elusive six-season wait to stand on the top step of an F1 podium, as he capitalised on a Safety Car to win his maiden race on his 110th appearance.
The Briton proved to be a popular winner with the three F1 champions on the grid – Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, and Fernando Alonso – all commending his drive.
Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz also hailed Norris’ breakthrough result, while Daniel Ricciardo expressed his delight for his erstwhile McLaren team-mate.
READ MORE: How F1 drivers reacted to Norris’ maiden win in Miami GP
Along with an endorsement from compatriot George Russell, Norris has revealed that earning respect from those who have reached the pinnacle has increased value.
“I think everyone maybe doesn’t talk the best of other people because of certain situations,” he started when asked about Verstappen and Leclerc’s positive comments.
“You’re under pressure, you’re racing people, people crash into you, you get frustrated and of course you want to say things, things that people don’t like, things that others do.
“One thing I’ve always had and I will always have is respect for the people I race against, as much as sometimes things make you not want to have it.
“I’ve always had respect for everyone that I race against from the top to the bottom or every category that I’ve gone through since karting.
“I’ve always had respect for my competitors and the people I race against and I’ve always said that so as much as when you put the helmet on you hate them and you want to beat them and you don’t care who’s who, I’ve always had respect for the people I’ve raced against.
“So when anyone comes up, especially people who have achieved a lot because it always means a little bit more so when Lewis, Fernando, Max, Charles, Carlos, whenever they come up to you or people have good words for you, I appreciate those things a lot because you know from these people it means something. Maybe from others it doesn’t and from these people, they’re the people who know what it takes to achieve these types of things for the work, the time, the effort that goes into doing something like this.
“So yeah, I guess thanks to them and thanks to everyone who supports me and has that kind of similar respect that I do for them back. I appreciate those types of things.”
Norris stormed clear upon the resumption to take the chequered flag with a 7.6-second gap over Verstappen, citing how he had time to digest his imminent accolade.
“It felt incredible. I mean, it’s a good crowd as well. The whole team are there. I don’t know what I better say, honestly, but just a lot of smiling, a lot of cheers,” he said.
“A lot of hard work goes into a day like today, but just happiness, me smiling, which is not always the case, but yeah, I mean, you dream of, I dream of these days sometimes and you never know when they’re gonna come towards you, but today was that day.
“So as much as my mind was going crazy, I was thinking a lot of things, I was also just quiet, you know?
“It’s a bit lonely out there at times. And it’s just nice to kind of reflect on everything you’ve done to get to that point.”
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