"This is down to them": Lando Norris thanks McLaren after beating Lewis Hamilton to win the Autosport British Competition Driver Award

Lando Norris was recently bestowed with the 2023 Autosport British Competition Driver Award. The McLaren driver had a brilliant year, despite having a rocky start to the season.

Speaking to the Autosport Awards audience through a video message, Lando Norris initially thanked all the fans who voted for him to win the award. He admitted that the nominees for this award, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, are strong drivers and contenders as well.

"I want to say a big thank you to all of the fans who voted for British Competition Driver of the year," he said. "Of course I had some great competitions such as Lewis and George so being able to take this home with me is very, very special."

Furthermore, Lando Norris admitted that he would not have achieved any awards without his team's support and all the hard work they put in to turn McLaren's season around.

"But I would not be able to achieve this and receive this trophy without the help, support and the turnarounds that we've had this year from my whole team at McLaren," he added. "All the men and women who have put their heart and soul into helping us go on and achieve great things this year. We started off the year pretty terribly but we've ended it on a high and we've had a lot of trophies."

"I had a great weekend, in Silverstone being the highlight," he concluded. "So I also want to say this is down to to them and all the hard work and the turnaround that we managed to achieve this season."

McLaren were struggling throughout the first half of the season. However, after they brought a major upgrade package to the 2023 F1 Austrian GP, their fortunes turned for the better, and they started competing near the top half of the table and even bagged several podiums.

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Lando Norris positive for McLaren's performances in 2024

After a great second half of the season, Lando Norris is eager to see how McLaren would perform in the 2024 F1 season. When Sportskeeda asked him about the new season at a press conference last month, Norris expressed his excitement, saying:

“Yeah I am very excited. I mean the thing is you know if we’d just started the season how we were in the middle, with P2 in the constructors and P2 in the drivers. I know it's not that and doesn’t always work like that. But we are on the right track and that's just what I'm trying to say."

Lando Norris secured sixth place with 205 points, while Oscar Piastri ended up ninth with 97 points in the 2023 F1 drivers' championship. McLaren finished in fourth place with 302 points in the constructors' championship table.