McLaren’s Lando Norris Confident in Team’s Progress and Potential
As the 2023 Formula 1 season comes to a close, McLaren’s Lando Norris reflects on the team’s progress and potential for the future. While Ferrari has been leading the charge behind Red Bull, Norris remains optimistic about McLaren’s performance and the room for improvement in their car.
“On the whole, I’m very happy,” Norris states. “Can I be happier? Yes. Can we all? Yes, because we always want more, we always want to be able to compete a bit higher.”
Despite McLaren’s first podium finish of the season in Australia, Norris acknowledges that there is still work to be done. However, he is pleased with the team’s solid position and their determination to continue improving.
“If you think back to 12 months ago, it was still a very, very different situation to be in,” Norris reflects. “We’ve out-developed our competitors since this time last year by a huge step. It gets harder and harder to do that the closer you get to the top, but still plenty of things for us to do.”
While Red Bull has maintained their winning form in 2024, Norris is not surprised given their early switch in development focus. He also praises Ferrari for their impressive progress, but remains confident in McLaren’s ability to compete with them.
“The gap to Red Bull is completely expected,” Norris explains. “If you look when they stopped developing last year, they put a lot of time and effort into trying to develop a good car for this year. So for us to be still as close as we are to them, I think it’s a good sign.”
He adds, “You would probably say the most impressive has been Ferrari, in how they’ve been able to take a very big step, I would say, probably one of the biggest steps from last year to this year. But for us to still be not far behind I think it’s a completely a good sign for us.”
McLaren’s Continued Progress and Challenges Ahead
Despite McLaren’s progress, Norris acknowledges that they still have weaknesses to address, particularly at certain tracks. However, he remains confident in the team’s overall performance and potential for the future.
“There’s still plenty of races at the end of last year that we were not even close to being the second fastest team,” Norris admits. “In Abu Dhabi we were not even close to being second fastest team, or third fastest team, or even fourth.”
He clarifies, “So I would never say yeah, we were the second fastest, and now Ferrari have jumped us or anything like this. I want to believe that we maybe have a slightly better all-round package, but I don’t think we’ve visited some tracks yet where we’ve seen as many weaknesses, like Zandvoort, for example – not looking forward to it! And a couple of tracks that really show where the car is weak.”
Despite the challenges ahead, Norris is confident in McLaren’s progress and the team’s determination to continue improving. As the 2023 season comes to a close, McLaren remains a strong contender in the world of Formula 1, and Norris is excited to see what the future holds for the team.
McLaren’s Progress and Potential: A Bright Future Ahead
As the 2023 Formula 1 season comes to a close, McLaren’s Lando Norris reflects on the team’s progress and potential for the future. Despite facing tough competition from Ferrari and Red Bull, Norris remains confident in McLaren’s performance and their ability to continue improving.
“On the whole, I’m very happy,” Norris states. “Can I be happier? Yes. Can we all? Yes, because we always want more, we always want to be able to compete a bit higher.”
With their first podium finish of the season in Australia, McLaren has shown significant progress and potential for the future. Norris is pleased with the team’s solid position and their determination to continue improving.
“If you think back to 12 months ago, it was still a very, very different situation to be in,” Norris reflects. “We’ve out-developed our competitors since this time last year by a huge step. It gets harder and harder to do that the closer you get to the
