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Norris hoping upgrades can lift McLaren further in battle with Red Bull as he aims to iron out ‘little mistakes’
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Lando Norris is optimistic that McLaren can move closer to Red Bull during the Dutch Grand Prix weekend as the team prepare to run upgrades on the MCL38, with the Briton hopeful that the squad can be “very strong” going forward if they improve in certain areas.
It was a successful first half of the season for McLaren; not only did Norris and team mate Oscar Piastri each score their debut F1 wins, but the consistent performance of both drivers has seen the team cut into Red Bull’s lead in the constructors’ championship, which now stands at just 42 points.
However, there were occasional mistakes from the squad, and Norris stated prior to the summer break that he felt in need of a “reset” after a particularly tough weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Reflecting on whether those weeks off had allowed him the opportunity to do so – and if this had given him the confidence to chase after a second victory – Norris answered: "I’ve had time to review and look back on plenty of things, so that’s been a good thing for myself and for the whole team.
"The main thing was to not forget how good of a first half of the season it’s been. There’s just been a few too many things that have let myself down and let us down as a team. When we’re fighting for a championship, you can’t afford to make those little mistakes. From my side, just trying to iron some of those things out is the main importance."
Prior to the summer break, Norris finished the Belgian Grand Prix in fifth place
Norris has particularly focused on his own performance in assessing what could be improved on for the second half of the campaign. As such, this will continue to be his priority as the season enters into its final 10 races, rather than thinking about the 78-point gap to Max Verstappen in the drivers’ standings.
“I just have to continue what I’ve been doing, because a lot of that I’m happy with and is to the level it has to be, but a few races I clearly haven’t performed at the level I need to perform at if I want to fight for a championship,” the 24-year-old added.
READ MORE: The candidates who could unseat Verstappen and Red Bull in the final 10 races of 2024
“I acknowledge and accept that, and don’t need many people to tell me it. I’m sure you can tell when I’m not performing to the level I need to, but I’ve had some time to review it and make sure I come back stronger for the second half of the season.”
Looking ahead to the weekend at Zandvoort, Norris is confident that McLaren have the ability to beat Verstappen. However, he also acknowledged that the close battle amongst the leading four teams could prove challenging throughout the rest of the season.
Norris: 'We not just fighting Max... we're fighting Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes'
“The reason we think we can beat them [Red Bull] this year is because we’ve beaten them in many races over the last two months, three months,” Norris explained. “We have some upgrades on the car this weekend, so I’m hoping they can help us move a step closer.
“We were reasonably good here last year, and we’ve made some good improvements since then, so many things give us good optimism. It’s always going to be close and a challenge, especially because now we’re not just fighting against Max, we’re fighting against Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes.
“There’s eight cars who are all fighting to try and win and get good points. I don’t think we’re expecting it to be any easier now. If anything, we expect it to be more difficult through the season, but we’ve been performing very well. The team have been doing an amazing job, so if we improve on some certain things then I’m confident we can be very strong.”
Piastri echoed Norris’ thoughts on the potential for a four-way fight at the front, with the Australian stating: “I think it will be very, very even between us, Mercedes, Red Bull, see if Ferrari pick up a little bit more. Saying that, they don’t need to find much at all to be well and truly back in the fight, so I think it could be an exciting four-team battle to the end.”
Piastri describes driving with a broken rib before the summer break as 'a little challenge'
However, with McLaren having continued to close in on Red Bull, Piastri is hopeful about their chances of battling for the constructors’ crown.
“I think it’s definitely a strong opportunity for us,” the 23-year-old remarked. “The last few months really have been very, very strong and we’ve been closing the gap to Red Bull, so that’s kind of our plan. Our goal is definitely to try and win the constructors’, so we’ll try our best and see where we end up.”
Additionally, having revealed over the summer break that he had suffered a broken rib during the first half of the season, Piastri confirmed that he is now fully recovered.
“It’s all fully back to normal now, so that’s good, but it was at some point in the triple header in Austria, roughly, just from driving,” the Hungarian Grand Prix winner said. “Silverstone was pretty painful but it’s all good again now, so a little challenge halfway through the season.”
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