Lando Norris appeared for McLaren for the pre-season testing in Bahrain. However, he didn’t get the results he hoped for after an underwhelming 2022 season. Yet again, the new McLaren car for this year seems to be under par.
Over the three days, the team isn’t looking to be good enough to extract the results they were fetching in the previous aero-regulations. On the other hand, their rival, Alpine, seems to be in a better state.
Making things even worse, Aston Martin, which didn’t even get to contest the midfield battle, seems sharper with Fernando Alonso nailing desirable timings. McLaren’s team principal Andrea Stella also hasn’t given hope for his team, as he claims his side isn’t a top-four contender right now.
So things are pretty grim at present. Norris, hailed to be one of the championship prospects, wouldn’t be delighted with news like this and reportedly, his frustration is coming onto the surface.
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Will Buxton reveals Lando Norris punched a wall
After the end of the pre-season testing, F1 experts appeared on F1’s post-event show and talked about how Norris was feeling. He claims that he saw the most unlikely behavior from the McLaren star, who is often seen joking around.
According to him, the Briton punched a wall under frustration with his day’s results. Though it wasn’t a hard punch that could have left a hole in the wall, surely his irritation was conspicuous to the F1 presenter.
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Norris realized that the whole midfield could get a top-four result right now, and if McLaren lacks real strength, then it would be yet another year with him seeing McLaren’s slippery slope on the grid.
Should he seek a position elsewhere?
Norris is definitely a top-rated driver on the grid. Last year, even with an underwhelming car, he managed to get the maximum results and gave a respective P5 finish to McLaren in the constructors’ standings.
But for how long is he willing to wait for Mclaren to give him a car where he can actually fight for the championship? At this rate, it doesn’t seem like his team is near that this year, and seeing no improvement in two years, 2024 also doesn’t give much hope.
“I’m here because I want to be” 🧡
Lando Norris on his future at McLaren 🔊 pic.twitter.com/XxttUt8HSs
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) February 24, 2023
McLaren boss Zak Brown insists that his team is only working at making a car at the level of a championship fight, and he also claims Norris believes in that vision. But the Briton would only have a deadline in his mind before he seeks better prospects, and that time limit is only getting shorter.
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