Lando Norris is expected to remain disappointed in the years to come if McLaren doesn’t bring immediate upgrades, believes F1 legend Johnny Herbert. In a time when the Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell are thriving, Norris’ McLaren is still performing like a backmarker.
Talking about this in Apple’s Lift The Lid podcast, Herbert and British racing driver Billy Monger discussed the sad days the British driver is going through in Formula 1 right now. The 23-year-old who is still to have a worthy performance this season, is expected to see his frustration poor out, believes Herbert.
Hard work never stops. We’ll be back pic.twitter.com/j4oqzORMHS
— Lando Norris (@LandoNorris) March 5, 2023
This is primarily because his team is still to make enormous improvements and solidify their position in the midfield or challenge the table toppers. The former Sky Sports presenter further emphasized how the young Briton will be upset to see his F2 buddy Russell thriving, whereas he’s barely making it into the points.
Notably, Norris still has two years in his contract with the Woking-based team. With his contract running out at the end of the 2025 F1 season, it will not be a surprise if he decides to make a switch to Ferrari if the Papayas fail to improve over time.
Norris isn’t satisfied with Baku upgrades
With a bit of an upgrade, the McLarens were a bit better in Baku, statistically, as the MCL60s earned their top ten berths. However, the British driver isn’t happy with the work they have done so far.
Despite the upgrade being a step ahead, the 23-year-old didn’t feel any difference inside the car. The oversteer was a little less, but the overall improvement has been very little, stated Norris in a report published by F1.
Battling until the end. The hard work paid off. 🙌#AzerbaijanGP 🇦🇿 pic.twitter.com/6DZzcIt5tu
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) April 30, 2023
The McLaren star, however, mentioned that Baku wasn’t on the right track to show the MCL60’s true potential. Norris further asserted that it’ll be in Miami where there are high-speed corners, which will help them to understand the leap they have taken.
Where are Norris and McLaren in the championship at the moment?
The British team is currently in P5 in the constructors’ championship. With 14 points on board after four races, the Orange brigade will love the place they are currently in. However, the points table doesn’t tell the truth.
McLaren picked up most of their points (12) in Australian Grand Prix when almost half of the grid had DNF and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz had a five-second time penalty for tangling with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
As for the 2023 F1 season’s driver’s championship, Lando Norris is in P9 with 10 points in his tally, whereas his rookie teammate Oscar Piastri is in P11 with 4 points.
