After ending 2023 on a strong note, McLaren are back to playing the good old catch-up game again this season. As the teams gear up for the Australian GP this weekend, Lando Norris is not confident of his team’s ability to challenge for the top 3. Despite topping the times in FP1 at Albert Park, the Briton is setting the bar low for McLaren for qualifying on Saturday. This is because the Ferrari cars ran hot in FP2 on Friday and finished 1st and 3rd. Thus, Norris believes that either Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz could get pole position in Melbourne.
Speaking after FP2, the #4 driver replied to a reporter asking whether McLaren are looking at Ferrari for a competitive benchmark. As seen in a video on Twitter (now X), Norris said, “Ah no no, Ferraris are pole tomorrow, I think [Charles] Leclerc is on pole tomorrow or Carlos [Sainz]”.
The 24-year-old clarified that Red Bull and Ferrari have been “too fast” for them since the start of this season. So, the Woking team is mainly looking at Mercedes and Aston Martin as their competition. Although even to beat them, Norris needs to be flawless and not fall prey to his usual tendency of making mistakes when it matters.
The Briton admitted that he was not on the money on Friday, despite Mercedes also trying to navigate through their issues. He said, “I mean they are making some mistakes but I made my fair share of mistakes today”.
So, if Norris wants to exceed expectations and get a great result in Australia, he has his work cut out for qualifying and the Grand Prix. On the other hand, even his teammate Oscar Piastri has similar expectations at his home race. But, McLaren are behind the curve again.
Can Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri start lifting McLaren out of the midfield earlier in 2024?
Last year, McLaren had to wait until mid-season in Austria and Silverstone to start scoring some big points. In 2024 too, they seemed to have started on a slower note, not being in contention for the podium. Besides being slow out of the blocks, another similarity is that it was the Australian GP in 2023, that stimulated McLaren’s season and they opened their account with a double points finish.
12 months later, the Woking team is in a better place but not where they would have wanted to be. So, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri need to deliver and maximize every possible opportunity. In Melbourne they will get such chances, given the Australian GP can often be a race of attrition.
The MCL38 is a decent car that can try to challenge for the top 5. So it is a step up from where the papaya team were last year this time around. So, they would want to get a better result and maybe hop onto the podium around the streets of Melbourne.
Getting a podium in this Asian leg of races from Australia to China could galvanize the team a lot. So, with their strong in-season development program, McLaren can look to improve quicker to where they reached at the end of 2023 as this season progresses.
They may not have the raw pace of Red Bull or Ferrari currently as Norris suggested. Still, by keeping their noses clean and executing good races, McLaren have the potential to become a surprise podium contender again in 2024.
