McLaren finally introduced its first true performance upgrade of the 2023 season on Norris' car last weekend, which allowed him to qualify in the top four for both Saturday's sprint and Sunday's grand prix.
While McLaren benefitted from both Mercedes and Aston Martin having an off-weekend, Norris still produced a spirited drive to fifth, which became fourth after an additional track limits penalty for Ferrari's Carlos Sainz.
Norris was delighted with the result and McLaren's race pace improvements, although keeping the MCL60 on track was hard work.
"I was a bit nervous coming into the race, that the race pace was going to let us down today but actually it was better than I was expecting which was a good surprise," Norris said.
"It's still not great, Fernando [Alonso] was clearly quicker a chunk every lap, and I am almost crashing in every corner.
"But to be fifth [fourth after Sainz's penalty] shows we’ve made a good step forward, so I am very happy with that."
Source: Autosport