Lando Norris Diagnosed With Tonsillitis, Scores Points in Spanish GP

The McLaren driver says he missed “a lot of engineering sessions, which has compromised my weekend.”

Lando Norris looked like he was struggling throughout the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, commenting on Saturday how he was “suffering with my throat and my eyes and seeing.”

He confirmed at the time that it was not COVID-19, and Sky Sports reported that Norris has continued to test negative for COVID-19. Despite battling an illness, he managed to snag P11 in qualifying and scored points for the team on Sunday as he came in P8. 

His post-race media duties were canceled, and team principal Andreas Seidl revealed Norris’s diagnosis, which was later confirmed by the driver in the post-race press release. 

“Today was tough. I was feeling really unwell before the race as I’m suffering with tonsillitis, and that, in combination with the high temperatures, made this one of the hardest races I’ve ever done. I’ve been a bit on the backfoot this weekend as most of my energy has been spent fighting off this illness,” Norris’s statement said, in part. “I’ve had to miss a lot of engineering sessions, which has compromised my weekend, and I definitely wasn’t as prepared for the Grand Prix as I could have been. 

“With that in mind, I’m really pleased to have come out of the race with decent points for the team.” 

Seidl praised the young driver for his efforts, saying, “It was a very challenging race, especially in these hot temperatures, so he was pretty flat at the end of the race and after the race but thanks to the great medical support within the team that he has around him.

“The objective is clear now the next four days, we need to make sure he gets some good rest now in the next four days before we then go again in Monaco.”

A doctor did green-light Norris competing in the Spanish Grand Prix, which saw scorching track temperatures that were over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. 

“I can’t thank him enough for battling through and he showed a great fighting spirit because in the end it enabled us to score these four points today,” Seidl added. “It was just great to see the commitment from his side but at the same time it’s also clear we obviously have a doctor involved in decisions like that and we would never risk the health of Lando, just to be clear on that as well.”