Lando Norris asserts that McLaren’s Japanese Grand Prix exploits have now “proven” it can regularly battle against Formula 1’s top teams.
McLaren encountered a tough start to the year after admitting it had missed development targets with its MCL60, only accruing 17 points in the first eight rounds.
However, the British squad’s entire campaign has been transcended by the introduction of a revised car at July’s Austrian Grand Prix, since becoming regular podium contenders.
The Woking camp secured its best result of the season at Suzuka, with Norris leading home rookie team-mate Oscar Piastri to secure its first double podium in two years.
Norris, who now has four second-place finishes to his name in 2023, is optimistic that McLaren won’t encounter any “bad races” across the remaining six rounds.
“I don’t think there is going to be any bad races like the start of the season. I think we’ve proven we’re a team now who can fight against Ferrari, Mercedes, at times Red Bull,” he told Sky Sports last weekend.
“We are making good progress and days like the one in Japan prove it. Although I know that sometimes there will be more difficult and perhaps not as simple races as [in] Japan, the progress we have made this season has been truly incredible.
“From the point where we were at the end 19 seconds from the first driver in the standings, I think it’s proof of progress. I am proud of everyone, and we will continue to push.”
McLaren’s attempts to score a breakthrough victory, however, have been stymied by the dominance of Red Bull, who have won all but one of the 16 races to be held at this stage.
Norris believes the Austrian outfit’s unrelenting success has derived from utilising its solid base to nail the minor things that add up to make a “big difference”.
“Red Bull have been so competitive for so many years, they’ve been able to focus on some other areas where the very, very small things make a big difference,” he explained.
“The Red Bull is not just quick in qualifying,” he pointed out. “Where they’re very, very strong is [in] the race, and that’s where you get the points. Even if they have a bad qualifying day and start last, their chance of winning is still very high.
“It’s to do with tyre temperature and tyre management and all of these things. Their tyre degradation is extremely strong, their efficiency is very strong.”
He added: “If you said, ‘Do you reckon we could have a pole position this year?’ I’d be a lot more confident saying yes than ‘Can we win a race?’”, he admitted. “They’re two very different answers and different confidence levels in the answering.
“So much focus has been put into putting us into the position we are now fighting for podiums and things like this. We needed that. Now the focus will shift into some of these other areas that we need to also focus on.”
McLaren’s hopes of becoming a more credible contender to Red Bull next year will be bolstered by the addition of its new wind tunnel, which officially came online today.
“There’s nothing wrong with what we have now,” Norris said prior to the new facility being active. “It’s just the rate of development and being able to literally just go next door, understand something, figure it out and come back and adjust it and go straight back in.”
