How did Norris really fare on his F1 debut?

The best in motorsport, in any sport for that matter, put enormous demands on themselves. "Good enough" is never good enough, expectations are sky high and no matter what pressure the outside world can put on them, it's nowhere near as intense as what comes from within an athlete's own head. It's why managing that expectation is central to sustained performance.

So it was no surprise to see Lando Norris, after what was a very accomplished debut grand prix weekend that included a stellar qualifying performance but a shot at a point or two lost to getting stuck behind the long-running Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi, a little downbeat after the race.

Norris finished 12th, perfectly credible for a McLaren, but what he was frustrated by was the fact he could easily have finished ninth. In fact, he was on course to do so during the pitstop phase even after dropping from eighth to 10th (behind Nico Hulkenberg and Kimi Raikkonen) at the start, having been a little over-eager in the second phase of the launch and incurring wheelspin.

Given he was just over 40 seconds down on ninth-placed Lance Stroll, the idea that the McLaren could have been where the Racing Point ended up might seem unlikely. But the phase stuck behind Giovinazzi, who was struggling not only on older softs but also had some damage from a brush with Norris at the first corner, was costly not just in terms of track position but also tyre condition.

Norris ended his out-lap after stopping on lap 15 of the 58 just 4.2s behind Kimi Raikkonen's Alfa Romeo and 19.274s behind Stroll. This put him inside Stroll's pit window with a few seconds to spare. When Giovinazzi let Raikkonen past on lap 19, Norris was close behind. But it wasn't until lap 26 that Norris finally got ahead into Turn 3. At the end of that lap, he was 29.169s behind Stroll.

Kvyat, Stroll and - a little later - Pierre Gasly were therefore able to leapfrog Norris by running longer, thanks to the time he lost behind Giovinazzi. The result was 12th place; only Romain Grosjean's pitstop delay gave Norris a position back.

"I just didn't have the confidence in race one to dive up the inside and do anything too crazy" Lando Norris

Had he not lost track position to Stroll and the others, even with tyre problems which were exacerbated by the time stuck behind the Alfa Romeo, he would likely have kept the Racing Point behind. He was certainly able to do that to the sister car of Sergio Perez later in the race.

So the key question for Norris is could he have nailed Giovinazzi sooner? I asked him exactly that after the race.

"Yeah, could have done," said Norris. "I haven't done much overtaking or following so far this season. I tried to do a bit in FP1, FP2, FP3, but still you don't want to risk anything or do anything stupid.

"You obviously risk a little bit more in the race and I just didn't have the confidence in race one to dive up the inside and do anything too crazy.

"I didn't want to risk putting myself out of the race, I wanted to get it out the way, get the whole thing done.

"But I had the confidence after doing so to push the braking more, to know how much I can brake and turn and basically do a later move.

"It's just something which comes with the experience of doing the race itself, and something maybe I could have prepared a little bit better. So for next time I'll be more confident with trying to get past."

Norris might not cut himself some slack on this given its his debut, but the rest of us must. Could he have passed Giovinazzi sooner? Certainly. Should he have done? Ideally, but he'd have looked foolish clattering into the Alfa Romeo.

Ask McLaren sporting director Gil de Ferran the same question and he's firmly in the 'cut him some slack' camp. De Ferran, a two-time CART IndyCar champion and Indianapolis 500 winner, understands drivers and knows that not only is it unreasonable to demand Norris execute that move more quickly on his debut at an unfamiliar track, it would be counter-productive to the development of the 19-year old.

"Listen, it's his first grand prix," said de Ferran when asked if Norris should have got past Giovinazzi quicker. "I'm sure if he plays it back, one would hope that he would think he could do this better and that better.

"That's one of Lando's great attributes, his ability to think through his own performance and analyse very carefully what he's doing inside the car, his decision making and so on. That ability to be self-critical and open minded, in my summation, is something that's going to serve him well."

So Norris didn't score points, but overall he has reason to be very pleased with what he achieved. The McLaren is firmly in the midfield pack, but it's not as quick as the leaders in that group - Haas, Renault and Alfa Romeo - so on current performance a place in the middle of Q2 would be very creditable.

But on Saturday Norris managed to put it eighth on the grid. This was hugely impressive, and you could tell the team held his performance in high regard when he was asked for a repeat of that pace when trying to salvage his race after the Alfa-induced time loss.

Since track evolution was rapid in Q1, McLaren justifiably decided to allow Norris three runs on softs to ensure he made it through. That meant only one set of softs for Q2, and amid rapidly changing track conditions he did brilliantly to set a time good enough to advance. Given the need to sense the new-tyre edge on a track with fast-changing grip levels in the late afternoon, this was a great performance. To cap it all, he beat Raikkonen's faster Alfa in Q3.

There was added pressure on Norris for Saturday given qualifying wasn't his strongest suit in Formula 2 last season. That was at odds with what we'd seen earlier in his career, but even racing drivers are human and that 2018 weak spot can't have failed to play on his mind. Yet he drove on Saturday afternoon with the confidence of an established ace.

In a qualifying session where many more experienced drivers underachieved, he excelled. That said, we have to reserve judgement on his performance compared with team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr, who was knocked out in Q1 thanks to losing time to encountering Robert Kubica's Williams, complete with right-rear puncture, late in the lap.

Norris's performance level should not come as a surprise. Behind the wheel he's visibly sure in his own ability, something that you could see from watching the way he drove last year's recalcitrant McLaren when up against Stoffel Vandoorne in free practice. While Vandoorne, confidence shot, was driving within its limitations, Norris was willing to be more aggressive and hang onto it when things got difficult.

As for his ability to adapt to a new car, that's a skill that's long been known. On his way to winning the 2016 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, he wowed judges with his immediate speed in the unfamiliar environments of Mercedes DTM and McLaren GT kit. On top of that, his feedback and ability to feel and understand what the car was doing meant he was a cut above his rivals.

"Frankly he drove like a veteran in many ways" Gil de Ferran

In Melbourne, what was really encouraging was Norris's attitude after the race. While he did ultimately admit he had to be satisfied with himself and what he'd done, the fact he could instantly identify areas he could improve and the desire to have another crack is laudable.

Some might just have been satisfied with shrugging their shoulders and declaring points were denied by Giovinazzi, but Norris immediately knew he could have changed that. He did also accept he had done a good job, especially considering it was the first time he's done a race distance in an F1 car.

"Coming into this race, I definitely didn't expect a Q3, that's a very big positive for me and for the team," he said. "But still, P12 in the race, considering and now knowing we could have done better, I am pretty pleased. It's not like I was P16 and last and thinking I've got a hell of a job to do.

"There's still a lot of things I've got to work on, but for the first race I was not so confident just with the whole experience of going into the race. But coming out I have a better understanding, much more confidence. So hopefully I can do a better job in Bahrain.

"It doesn't mean I'm not going to make any mistakes in Bahrain, but overall I have a better idea, a better mindset during the race of what to do, what not to do, how much to push, how not to push, how to save the tyres. And obviously how much to push when stuck behind someone and how to size them up for an overtake, because that was my biggest let down."

His employers have no reason to feel let down by how he performed on his debut. While disappointed Norris didn't make the top 10, de Ferran was impressed by the weekend.

"He did a great job overall," said de Ferran. "He really didn't put a foot wrong the whole weekend. A lot of control and discipline, he peaked when he had to pace-wise in qualifying, and in the race we were just unfortunate with the Giovinazzi train.

"Other than that I think he managed himself really well and frankly drove like a veteran in many ways. He had both to attack and defend during the race, had to manage his pace and the tyres and I think he did that very well."

Norris may not have joined the illustrious ranks of drivers who scored on their debut, but the fact he came close, his stellar qualifying performance and the way he just looked at home in grand prix racing, means it won't be long before he gets off the mark.

And one thing we can be sure of. Next time he finds himself behind a struggling rival, especially if it's Giovinazzi, he will find his way past a lot quicker.