Lando Norris feels McLaren need to work a bit more before they can take the fight to Mercedes and the teams above them.
Norris had a race to forget at the Miami International Autodrome. After starting from P8 on the grid, the Briton was looking set for a solid race before a slow pit stop forced him into a DRS train at the back of the pack.
Matters were further compounded when the 22-year-old was tagged by AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly on lap 41, with both cars retiring from the race.
Following the race, Lando Norris reflected on his McLaren MCL36’s inability to get past cars and where they stood when compared to other teams. In an interview with motorsport-total.com, he said:
“I think we are behind Mercedes. We are also behind Alfa Romeo but are well in the running with Alpine and AlphaTauri. Haas are somewhere in that region as well. So I think it’s quite simple – it’s tight. In the race, we have decent pace. It’s just going to take a bit more for us to take on Mercedes and the guys in front. If we can do that, we can be happy.”
Following his first DNF of the season, Norris is now in P7 in the World Drivers’ Championship standings with 35 points.
“Sometimes it suits another car better” – Lando Norris feels Mercedes better suited than Mclaren for Miami GP track
McLaren looked to have cleared the hump at the 2022 F1 Imola GP after a disappointing start to the season. However, it proved to be a false dawn in Miami when compared to Mercedes.
Lando Norris felt this was down to the track suiting the W13 better on the day. During the aforementioned interview, he said:
“Miami has a lot of slow corners where Mercedes have one of the best cars in the field. From day one, the Mercedes has been good in those sections. I guess they figured out this weekend how to get more potential out of the car. So I’m not surprised. It’s been like that in Formula 1 for years. Sometimes your car suits the track, sometimes it suits another car better.”
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McLaren are fourth in the constructors’ championship standings with 46 points. While Norris has scored the bulk of the points, the team from Woking need Daniel Ricciardo to find his form after an abject start to the campaign.
Edited by Rachel Syiemlieh
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