Following Toto Wolff‘s analogy of chasing Red Bull being akin to climbing Mount Everest, McLaren’s Lando Norris confidently declares his team’s capability to close the gap. The 23-year-old attributes this bold claim to McLaren’s unprecedented mid-season turnaround, resulting in their impressive fourth-place finish.
Lando Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri have created numerous memorable moments for McLaren. Following the summer break, McLaren emerged as the second-best car on the grid, outperforming competitors like Mercedes and Ferrari. However, the team did not manage to beat Red Bull in the main races.
Lando Norris is “excited” about McLaren’s prospects heading towards the 2024 Formula 1 season and has optimism they will be able to compete against Red Bull for race victories ⚔
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) November 9, 2023
Nonetheless, despite this, Lando Norris expresses faith in his team’s resurgence, stating that even if McLaren doesn’t defeat the Austrian team outright, it can make significant progress towards challenging Red Bull. According to thenationalnews.com Norris said, ” Optimistic in winning I don’t think is very realistic, but optimistic in terms of progressing and taking a step towards Red Bull, we can definitely do that.”
Before Norris expressed optimism, Toto Wolff acknowledged a significant challenge for his team in reining in Red Bull next year, describing it as a “Mount Everest-sized” task. However interestingly on the same matter, McLaren’s Lando Norris offers a divergent perspective. According to Norris, his team has recently shown that Red Bull is not considerably far ahead. For this, he even highlighted instances from races in Brazil, Suzuka, and Silverstone, where McLaren trailed Red Bull by only a few seconds.
In essence, Norris believes that the distance to Red Bull resembles a hill rather than the magnitude of Mount Everest. While wrapping up the conversation Norris said, ” That’s not Mount Everest. It’s a hill, but it’s not Mount Everest. When you’re talking about 15 seconds over a 60-lap race, you’re talking about a 10th a lap it’s tiny.”
Can Lando Norris secure an F1 championship against Verstappen and Hamilton?
Facing a difficult beginning to the 2023 season with a sluggish car, Lando Norris swiftly demonstrated his remarkable driving skills. Notably, Norris navigated the McL60 adeptly during the early season phase when the team found themselves at the rear of the F1 pack.
The turning point came after the Austrian GP when McLaren introduced specific floor and rear wing upgrades which drastically altered their season’s trajectory in a positive direction. It’s interesting to note that this may be the explanation behind McLaren’s continued retention of Lando Norris.
Unknown to many, Norris had grown weary of the team’s continual setbacks and was considering quitting. Nevertheless, that period is a thing of the past, and the 23-year-old continued to contribute with impressive performances while staying with the team.
Astonishingly in light of Norris’s performances, 1996 F1 champion Damon Hill makes a bold assertion, stating that Norris belongs to an exclusive group of highly skilled drivers. During his Sky Sports Interview Hill said, “ I think he’s in the top tier. The very top tier is Lewis, Max and then there’s a very close collection of drivers who are very, very good.”
Finally, Hill expressed confidence in Norris’s ability, saying that the British driver is ready to win a championship soon enough if he possesses a competent car. He said, “He is one that you’d look at say ok, in a right opportunity and a right situation, he’s a championship winner without any question.”
