Ever since Lando Norris’ maiden F1 win in Miami, McLaren has proven to be a serious contender for Red Bull’s throne. In Imola and Canada, the Briton came mighty close to beating Max Verstappen but had to settle for P2. This has led to the papaya team looking forward to the Spanish GP, which many believe could turn out to be a cakewalk for Red Bull. However, McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes that as many as four teams will be in the hunt for the win.
The McLaren boss cited two reasons as to why he is eagerly waiting for the current Grand Prix weekend to progress. One of those is to gauge how the rest of the season might pan out for his team and the others. The other one is to grant legitimacy to his assessment of the 2024 championship contenders.
Speaking with Sky Sports F1, Brown said, “Maybe this weekend will show us what things could look like.” Looking back at Norris topping the timings chart in FP1, Brown continued,
“It’s a good start to the weekend. I think everyone is bringing upgrades again. Mercedes are looking strong again, so I don’t think Montreal was a one-off. I think there are four teams at the moment.”
Lando Norris goes fastest in FP1 in Spain ⚡ pic.twitter.com/dF2pQZXe74
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 21, 2024
Unsurprisingly, Zak Brown picked Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren to be those four contenders. As many as six teams have brought upgrade packages to Barcelona. However, McLaren is not one of those. Despite that, the Woking-based outfit will look to gather some crucial data on the performance of their car.
That is because of the nature of the Barcelona circuit. Canada saw many sessions hampered by rain, while Monaco is famous for being too narrow. Hence, both are not ideal for data collection. Barcelona, on the other hand, is a proper racing circuit that can indeed provide a fair insight into the upcoming races.
McLaren are on the right path to deliver a shocking blow to Red Bull
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call Max Verstappen’s wins in Imola and Montreal lucky escapes. In Italy, Norris was on a charge and would have caught the Dutchman if the race went on for one more lap.
He eventually lost the race by just seven-tenths of a second. Meanwhile, in Canada, the Briton lost the crucial lead, owing to an untimely safety car that kept him away from a pit stop for an extra lap.
The affairs in Barcelona, however, have started on a positive note for the #4 driver. He beat Verstappen for the top spot by a slender margin of two-hundredth of a second in FP1. Norris then came in third in FP2, still ahead of Verstappen by two places.
The reigning champion, however, is reporting some minor issues with the car, which can be resolved as the weekend progresses. Those minor tweaks could make all the difference for Red Bull. That could also put Norris at a disadvantage as McLaren is depending on the upgrades it introduced earlier.
