Lando Norris has denied that McLaren is in a period of crisis following its disappointing display in Bahrain earlier this month.
McLaren has lacked pace at the start of the 2023 campaign, admitting that it missed development goals with its car.
Debutant Oscar Piastri was forced to retire in the early stages of the race, while a pneumatic leak saw Norris pit six times during the grand prix, ending his hopes of scoring points.
Without its problems, McLaren believes that it could’ve ended the race with both cars inside the top 10.
Since Bahrain, McLaren has received assurances that the problem will not be recurring.
“Oscar’s problem, it was an issue that we’ve had the first time we’ve seen in years and years and years,” Norris said.
“So [we’re] confident that’s fixed and from my issue, Mercedes are sure that they fixed that and it was, again, something which hasn’t happened for years and years.
“So both quite rare issues. And both things that we’re confident, both from HPP side and from McLaren side that are fixed.”
The team is now looking at upgrades due to come at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to boost its performance.
Despite appearing to slip backwards in the pecking order, Norris denies that it is an emergency situation for the Woking-based squad.
“I don’t know, everyone makes it sound a lot worse than it is,” he said. “And calling it [a] crisis is far from that at all and it’s nothing close to it.
“So, no, we’re confident we can get some good points, I would say, this weekend. I think it’s a close fight for… with Valtteri [Bottas], with Alfa and a lot of those teams.”
Norris even expressed confidence that McLaren can break into the top four fight, which includes Aston Martin who has sprung out of the gates with a rapid car.
“Towards the top four teams, it’s a very big jump,” he said. “But I’m confident we can be in that fight.
“I don’t think we’re that far away. It was made very clear and very early on that we’re far from where we want to be.
“And like you said, for McLaren’s expectations and who we are as a team, we’re far from where we want to be. But we have a very clear plan.
“I think it’s very clear from everyone back in MTC and here what we need to achieve and want to achieve. It’s just going about setting it and achieving it, which is our next call.”
