Norris Now 'Confident Every Weekend' But Still Calls For McLaren Improvements

Thursday, 27 June 2024 at 14:00

Lando Norris seems to be very confident at the moment, especially after her finally became a race winner a few weeks ago.

Only 12 months ago, the British driver was finish races among the last, as McLaren had major troubles early in the 2023 F1 season. As the season progressed, they managed to turn their fortunes around to the point that less than 12 months later, Norris became a race winner.

Now, he's a contender for every Grand Prix, and finishing on the podium doesn't satisfy him anymore, as he showed in Barcelona, where he finished second, only 2.219 seconds behind his friend and rival, Max Verstappen.

Now, the F1 paddock moves to the home of Red Bull team, the Red Bull Ring, for the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix, and speaking to the media ahead of the weekend, the McLaren driver admitted that he feels confident with well-performing car.

"I mean, I'm confident every weekend we go into now, the car is performing extremely well. We're always there or thereabouts within a couple of tenths of pole, and that's all we can ask for."

Now, the 24-year-old is getting into the position where he can already start nit-picking, as he knows there is a tenth here and there, which McLaren can find when improving their package.

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"I think we need to bring something a little bit more just to make our life a bit easier. It’s close, and now we have, what, four teams who I think can easily fight for pole positions and fight for wins, potentially. So it's a very different layout again."

Specifically, the British driver identified high-speed corners as one of the areas, in which his car could catch up with Red Bull, which currently still leads the World Constructors' Championships.

“High speed, I think we have a bit to work on, comparing to Red Bull. Red Bull seem definitely a bit higher, better in high-speed corners than we are. “Potentially we're lacking a touch in that area but the rest of it is strong."

Going into the Austrian Grand Prix, even though a home ground for his main rival team, Norris feels really confident, because it's one of the tracks where he feels the best and had success in the past, finishing fourth last year and third in 2021.

"It's been one of my best tracks in terms of my own competitiveness and my most successful tracks so excited to see all the papaya and the grandstands and have a good weekend."