Winner of the last two Grands Prix, Lando Norris nevertheless refuses to consider himself a credible title contender with McLaren.
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Lando Norris remains extremely cautious despite the spectacular comeback of McLaren. After his victory in Hungary before the summer break, the Briton repeated the feat at Zandvoort by dominating the Dutch Grand Prix, thus signing two consecutive wins.
This streak allows him to climb to fourth place in the championship with 159 points. Norris is now 83 points behind Kimi Antonelli, leader with 242 points, but only 24 behind George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, tied in second place.
On paper, the momentum could therefore encourage the reigning world champion to believe in a spectacular comeback. But Norris believes that the MCL40 still has a weakness too significant to allow him to truly defend his crown.
Norris refuses to get carried away after Zandvoort
Asked about his ambitions after two consecutive wins and two pole positions, Norris prefers for now not to look too far ahead. He nevertheless acknowledges that McLaren now has a particularly competitive car in certain conditions.
“I don’t want to think about it for the moment. I just want to enjoy this moment again and a few days of rest. I simply don’t think about it.”
The Briton notably highlights the huge progress made by McLaren in fast corners. At Zandvoort, this feature was one of the main strengths of the MCL40 against Mercedes.
“We have a very strong car in certain areas. It’s not like last year, when we were pretty good everywhere. We are very, very strong in fast corners, and that’s the area where we have improved the car the most.”
Norris goes even further regarding this strength: according to him, no car can currently compete with McLaren in fast curves.
“I don’t have the car I need”
The problem lies at the other end of the spectrum. While the MCL40 excels as speed increases, Norris believes that Mercedes still has a considerable advantage in slow corners.
“My advantage over Mercedes in corners 7 and 8 was huge, but their advantage over us at low speed is also huge. That’s why I don’t have the confidence to say: ‘Yes, I can easily fight for the championship for the rest of the season.'”
It is then that Norris makes a particularly strong statement considering his recent results.
“I know I just won two consecutive races and got two consecutive poles, but right now, I don’t have the car I need to fight for a championship.”
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A statement that may surprise after McLaren’s demonstration at Zandvoort, but Norris relies on his experience from the previous season to judge what a car needs to compete for the title across all circuits.
Some races already worry Norris
The reigning world champion especially knows that not all remaining tracks will suit the MCL40 as well as the last two. Some could expose much more severely its difficulties in slow corners.
“I know my level today and at what level I am capable of performing. I also know what I need from the car and I know the upcoming circuits, where we will certainly suffer more. And I don’t want to suffer more.”
Norris therefore refuses that recent successes lead to any relaxation at Woking. On the contrary, he asks McLaren to accelerate its development even more despite the progress already made.
“I’m just doing my part to make sure that as a team, we don’t relax and that we don’t become complacent in any way. We have to work even harder than we ever have, even over the last two years when we won the championships.”
The message to the engineers is clear: the two consecutive wins must not mask the persistent weaknesses of the MCL40.
Yet Norris sees himself capable of winning everything
Despite this caution, Norris ends his analysis with a statement that shows all his confidence. While he believes that his car is currently not versatile enough to compete for the championship, he considers that an improvement in slow corners could totally change the situation.
“I need the guys and girls to work and focus better than ever to improve these areas.”
And if McLaren manages to fix this weakness, Norris sets no limits to his ambitions for the second half of the season.
“If we can improve in slow corners, I am convinced I can win every race this season. If we don’t manage that, then it becomes much harder to believe in it.”
83 points behind Antonelli, the task remains considerable. But after two consecutive wins and with a McLaren now formidable on certain types of circuits, Norris could still become a threat to Mercedes if Woking manages to eliminate the main flaw of its MCL40.
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