Norris reaffirms faith in McLaren amid talk of upgrades

McLaren Racing currently sits third in the Constructors’ Standings, 51 points behind second-placed Ferrari.

It’s been a good but tough start to the season for McLaren, who have already closed out the podium with Lando Norris taking third at the Australian Grand Prix.

But four races into the season, they are clearly behind Red Bull and Ferrari in terms of overall performance. A way to solve the problem? Improvement.

“It’s becoming a race for improvement,” McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella he told Autosport. “And one step of improvement will not be enough, because (Ferrari) will also improve.

“But last year we were able to develop our competitors, in the season we brought more time than the competitors. So for us, this remains the goal.

“As long as we see that what we plan to bring trackside is happening, then we are happy because we know that we are on our way, which we think is a solid way.”

While the team is focusing on improvements that can close the gap between Ferrari and Red Bull, Stella sees the third place in the championship as a good place for the team to remain.

“I think if we look at the facts, if we look at the numbers, if we can take third place in the championship, if we start McLaren as the third best car, that will be a good result for our team,” he said.

“At the same time, there are cycles where we look like we can compete with Ferrari. So then we say: ‘Why?’,” he said.

“But in fairness, in Formula 1, it’s not about wishing ‘I’d like (to be in that position)’, you just push as hard as you can.

“You just try to develop your car as much as you can, maximize the race weekend as much as you can and then try and see where you end up.

“After Miami, when we introduce some developments, we will have more information to see what we can compete with.”

Norris’ future with McLaren

At the beginning of the year, McLaren and Norris announced that he would remain at the team beyond 2025 after a new contract extension. Despite the belief by some that it was unwise to put so much faith in the team for so long, Norris seems content to stay at McLaren for now, if not forever.

Time to talk about it later with McLaren to RACERNorris reiterated his commitment to McLaren and his belief in the direction of the team.

“(The future) wasn’t something I even had to think about, because I still had a 25-year contract,” he said. “So I was in no hurry to do anything. And yet I knew a little back, what was in the pipeline and what things might come. That’s when things started to get better.

“So I knew that in the short term, the potential was there, and it was the highest point we’ve ever had. But it wasn’t something I thought about. It wasn’t like, ‘Okay, I’ve got a whole plan in place if things go well, and a whole plan if things go wrong. ‘.It was more if the year ended and things were not good, or even a little earlier, then things would start to think.

“But I’m not a forward thinker. I’m very happy to just deal with what I have to do now and take it one weekend at a time, rather than thinking ‘OK, I want to do this to make sure this is ready and ready’. I’m not fussed very much with that and I was in a happy place with how I’ve been doing myself, so it wasn’t really something he was worried about.

“I was in no rush to do anything. But it has been turned on its head and it has gone into success and in a good direction – a trend that continues – and that is what encouraged me to stay longer.”

Photo Credit Feature: McLaren F1