Heading into the second half of the 2024 F1 season, Lando Norris is second in the driver’s championship and considers himself the closest challenger to Max Verstappen’s title defense. However, he has once again said some self-critical things.
There is little doubt that McLaren has had the fastest car on the grid since the Miami GP. And Norris has praised his team for all the hard work that went into making the MCL38 worthy of fighting for both championships.
However, he believes that he has not been able to fully utilize the opportunity that the team has given him with the MCL38. Norris has once again blamed himself and the mistakes he’s been making for letting Verstappen pull away from him in the standings.
“I think we’ve been on average the best-scoring team over the last few races and the team has done an amazing job to help us achieve this. But also from my side you know, I’ve been the closest to Max consistently, but I have not been close enough.”
“He’s still managed to pull away in the championship over the last few races and it’s clear that I’ve had to improve,” Norris said on media day ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix as referenced on the BBC’s F1: Chequered Flag podcast.
He was then asked about the flak that McLaren has been getting for not being able to put up a proper fight against Red Bull and Verstappen in response to which he immediately defended his team.
Norris calls out the media for having uninformed views about McLaren
The first time McLaren faltered in 2024 was during the Canadian Grand Prix when they let the race win slip out of Norris’ hand. After making a slow start in wet conditions Norris came charging to claim the race lead and built a decent buffer on Verstappen and George Russell.
However, McLaren failed to bring him into the pits when the safety car came out and it allowed the Dutchman to reclaim the lead which he then converted into a victory. The Woking-based squad has had many such fumbles since then and the media has been onto them for crumbling under the pressure of a championship.
“They are wrong…” the 24-year-old said dismissing the remarks from the media. He elaborated on how McLaren have been outperforming the majority of teams but also admitted that they want to outperform everyone consistently. Norris added, “People can say what they want on the outside but inside the team and the mentality inside the team is very strong, everyone’s very motivated.”
His thoughts are aligned with those of former McLaren strategist, Bernie Collins, who dismissed Zak Brown’s comments that McLaren is still adjusting to being at the front. According to Collins, the pressure is the same on every team at the pit wall regardless of where they are fighting on the grid.
