Ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix, McLaren driver Lando Norris explains what his team still needs to challenge Red Bull in the Formula 1 World Championship
For McLaren driver Lando Norris, Max Verstappen remains the top favorite for the 2024 Formula 1 title despite Red Bull’s recent weakening pace. After his recent victory in Canada, the Dutchman has built up a 56-point lead over second-placed Charles Leclerc, with Norris following in third place with a deficit of 63 points
“I think it’s going to be difficult,” says Norris on the media day in Spain when asked about his championship hopes, but: “There are probably more chances now, especially if Mercedes get involved. That could make for bigger swings in the points if Max only finishes fifth or sixth and you win the race yourself.”
And although Norris’ McLaren now appears to be a little faster than the Red Bull for some Formula 1 experts following the updates in Miami, the young Brit says it is primarily the Verstappen factor that could make it difficult for the competition to catch up.
Norris: Max doesn’t have bad weekends
“His bad weekends are never really bad weekends,” he says. “He always scores enough points because he’s strong in all areas. So it’s rare that he makes mistakes and messes up qualifying, for example. But the pressure is a bit greater now and it’s always easier to make mistakes under pressure.”
“That’s why it’s going to be difficult, because you can’t doubt Max in any area. He doesn’t really have a weakness. It could be possible, but it just needs a very good performance from the car, a very consistent performance over the whole season. So we just have to take advantage of the times when things aren’t going well for them and try to be at the front.”
However, the race in Canada two weeks ago showed once again that Verstappen can also win races where the Red Bull does not necessarily have the fastest car. In dry conditions in qualifying and at the end of the race, no team was faster than Mercedes and in wet conditions on intermediates, the McLaren was unbeatable over a longer distance. Nevertheless, the winner was Max Verstappen
Norris: This is what Red Bull has always been known for
For Norris, this is mainly down to the combination of the three-time world champion and Red Bull, who make the fewest mistakes in the interplay between driver and strategy: “He shouldn’t have won in Montreal,” says the McLaren driver. “But he was probably the most consistent throughout the race. They [Red Bull] made the fewest mistakes as a team and that’s why he won.”
“If you think about it, we should have pitted because of the safety car deployment, which meant we lost the lead. I lost a chance to fight for the win. George [Russell] had the fastest car and was extremely good all weekend in terms of pace. And if he hadn’t made a few mistakes, he too would have had a chance of winning the race. “
According to Norris, Red Bull has always been known for making “good race decisions” anyway, while he sees the situation at McLaren a little differently as they have only recently returned to the front of the field: “Things change a little bit, and so do people, when you’re fighting for a win or just second place.”
“The mentality, even if you try not to let it happen, will always change. You will always feel a bit more pressure, a bit more nerves. So it’s more like we have to try a bit harder than anything else. But that comes with time and the experience of being back at the top and having to make these decisions in less time.”
“But I don’t think you can ever write Red Bull off. I think they have always done a good job. They’ve set the standard in a lot of ways, and they give us an example of what level we need to be better at,” said Norris.
McLaren top favorite in the triple-header?
The upcoming race weekends should certainly play into McLaren’s hands. Like its predecessors, the MCL38 is particularly competitive in the very fast corners, of which there are plenty at the upcoming events in Spain, Austria and Great Britain.
However, after the Miami update, which has eliminated the top speed weaknesses through more aerodynamic efficiency and the lack of downforce in slow corners, there are hardly any areas where McLaren has the edge over Red Bull. Or do they?
“I expect it to be very close between Ferrari and Red Bull,” says Norris when asked about his prediction for the upcoming races. “Maybe [Red Bull] will be a bit more back where they should be and Ferrari will be better again. But I think we are the most consistent team. “
Norris: That’s what McLaren is still missing
“We weren’t the team that was suddenly the fastest and just dominated a weekend like we saw with Red Bull or Ferrari. So we haven’t had that absolute strength in certain areas, but we’ve just been a very good all-round team so far, which is exactly what we want over the course of the season.”
“But at no point would I say we’ve been the absolute best over a whole weekend. So that’s something we still need to work on. But you saw in Canada how close it is and whether you’re a tenth better or not, it’s simply because you don’t have the tires in the right window or you make a small mistake or the set-up is not perfect.”
“Half a tenth or a tenth and you’re three to five positions behind. So I think it will be a close fight between everyone. But the most important thing is that we’ve been good everywhere so far and I think we’re confident that we can just keep doing what we’ve been doing. We can keep a good consistency. “
