Time and time again, the media has considered Lando Norris a potential champion and race winner for McLaren. The Papaya duo achieved McLaren’s best results to date by securing a podium during the Qatar GP.
Lando Norris has consistently been regarded as fast enough to rival most drivers in Formula 1, but his race craft is often compared to that of the recent F1 sensation, Max Verstappen. There was speculation that Lando could outperform the Dutchman during the recent Qatar GP, but it was his teammate, Oscar Piastri, who managed to take the lead at the last moment.
Lando Norris sees potential rivalry with Red Bull in F1
It has long been known that Max Verstappen considers Lando Norris a threat to his race-winning streak and has been cautious about him ever since McLaren secured their first podium. Max has closely monitored the performance gains made by McLaren, and he genuinely believes that McLaren can rival Red Bull and give them a tough challenge in the remaining races.
The media and F1 pundits have been hyping up this potential rivalry, especially considering how Red Bull managed to remain unbeaten for all but one race this season, and no other team has come closer to challenging Red Bull than the Papaya outfit.
When asked about the potential fight with the Austrian team, Lando Norris was indeed affirmative about the possibilities: ‘Yes, I think if we continue at this rate of development – which… it’s impossible to sustain this rate; it’s bound to slow down.’
‘Within a relatively short time, it’s been around half a year, we’ve made numerous improvements in terms of lap time. We have likely improved the car’s pure pace by up to a second, perhaps a little more at certain circuits and a bit less at others.’
Norris hails McLaren’s outstanding progress
McLaren has come a long way since the double DNFs that marked the painful start to their season in Bahrain. They recently secured their first double podium at the Japanese GP, even challenging Max Verstappen for the lead during some moments. Lando Norris applauded the hard work of the Woking-based outfit on their path to this double success.
When he was asked about the back-to-back podiums taken by McLaren, Lando promptly praised the developments they had made throughout the season.
“We are pushing; we are getting there. The progress we’ve made is pretty outstanding.”
“Like I said, I’m very proud of the team, the steps forward we are making every weekend. I’m sure there is going to be some tough times again, but we are getting there, step-by-step.”
Do you think we can see a potential title fight between McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes, and all the teams that have been showing sparks of performance this year?
