Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have been at the helm of an incredible rise by McLaren, who now stand as the second-fastest team on the grid. With strong performances in Japan and Qatar, the McLaren duo locked out two-thirds of the podium in both races, with P1 going the way of Max Verstappen. As such, the three-time World Champion believes the McLaren duo has become the best driver lineup among all his rivals.
Ferrari has Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Mercedes has Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. Both these teams have two of the most intimidating driver pairings on the grid. As such, both teams have the right to vie for the best driver lineup on the grid. Despite the McLaren drivers having no race wins, barring a sprint race win for Piastri, under their belt, the youngest driver lineup on the grid stands as Red Bull’s closest competition.
Max Verstappen calls the Norris-Piastri pairing the best on the grid
With Ferrari and Mercedes faltering yet again, McLaren saw itself on the receiving end of a hefty sum of points following the feature race in Qatar. Despite not having much racing experience, the McLaren drivers have shown great maturity in their approach to each race as their team now stands as the immediate challenger to Red Bull. Addressing their rise, Verstappen labels Norris and Piastri as the best driver duo on the grid, as reported by Motorsport Week.
“I do think that as a team they are probably the most consistent, compared to the others behind us. And I do think they have the best driver line-up out of all of them. So yeah, they are operating really well.”
With such an incredible rise and the label of being the second-fastest on the grid, the onus is now on McLaren to take the fight to Red Bull and end their dominance. According to the plans and hopes of the team, that is exactly what they plan on doing, with Norris recently claiming they are out to catch Red Bull.
McLaren hot on the tail of Red Bull
With a sprint race win in Qatar, McLaren has shown they are capable of not only taking the fight to Red Bull but also emerging as winners from it. As such, the new and improved Woking outfit will look to cause an upset or two before the season ends. By doing so, not only will they finish the season on an unprecedented high, but also set the tone for the 2024 season. With Verstappen’s claims of Norris and Piastri being the best driver duo on the grid, it is McLaren’s responsibility to deliver a championship-worthy car that can help them vie for the title.
Same but different…
The podiums in Japan and Qatar 👀#F1 @redbullracing @McLarenF1 pic.twitter.com/nLKxDn2oM6
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 9, 2023
Five races remain this season, and in a matter of months, the next season will be upon us. As such, the Woking-based team will be hard at work to ensure they don’t suffer a fate similar to the one Ferrari faced when transitioning from the 2022 to the 2023 season. As they hope to be fighting for the title as soon as possible, the pre-2024 season window will perhaps be the most important few months in the team’s recent history.
