Max Verstappen speaking with Lando Norris
Lando Norris may not have the points that Max Verstappen has, but McLaren have one big advantage in the title fight and that’s “two cars up there performing in every single session”.
Despite McLaren’s initial struggle to secure a single podium finish in the first four races of this season, with Red Bull and Ferrari taking the lead, Norris has turned the tide with three consecutive podium finishes from China to Imola.
Lando Norris: We have two cars up there performing
Additional reporting by Sam Cooper
That run includes a maiden Grand Prix win in Miami where McLaren unveiled their upgraded ‘2.0’ MCL38, that followed by a near-miss in Imola where he was only 0.725s behind at the chequered flag.
It has pundits and fans salivating at the thought of a title fight, especially as Red Bull have just one car in the race with Sergio Perez going “missing”, as Dutch pundit Jan Lammers put it.
Despite not having featured on the podium this season with three P4 results, McLaren typically employs a two-pronged attack strategy, including Oscar Piastri.
Norris, speaking to the media including PlanetF1.com, said, “In my opinion, I believe that both Ferrari and our team are consistently excelling with two cars in each session, race, and qualifying.”
“If you observe the grid closely, it becomes evident that this element is lacking in many cases. There is typically one individual who performs exceptionally well, setting a remarkable lap time and having a successful race, while the other person’s performance falls short.”
“We have consistently maintained a strong presence with two cars, enabling us to effectively compete alongside Ferrari currently.”
“If we continue to engage in such actions, there is no doubt that we can remain involved.”
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However, Norris downplayed the chances of a title fight, citing his 60-point deficit to Verstappen.
The Briton exclaimed, “So, I’m trailing Max by 60 points? We still have a considerable distance to cover.”
“I absolutely have no thoughts about it, and it will have no impact whatsoever. Your focus should be on achieving a positive outcome, and then everything will unfold naturally. Rest assured, we have certainly positioned ourselves effectively.”
“We haven’t given any consideration to the championship in the past four weeks. Our initial performances resulted in significant losses during the first few weekends, which has hindered us. However, since we are only one-third of the way through, there are numerous chances for us to turn things around.”
“We are aware that there are still certain developments awaiting us in the future, and if circumstances take a positive turn, we can readily regain our competitive edge against some of the teams.”
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