With undeniable confidence and strategic upgrades, Lando Norris sets his sights on his first F1 victory. McLaren’s unexpected performance boosts hint at a competitive season.
McLaren F1 expected to be the fifth force on the grid in Shanghai… but it turned out to be the second, ahead of Ferrari and Mercedes F1.
Lando Norris even secured the pole in sprint qualifying, and without his start error, he might have contended for the win.
The next day, the Briton consoled himself by clinching second place in the race, outperforming Sergio Pérez’s Red Bull.
If McLaren F1 performs on a seemingly unfavorable track… does that mean Lando Norris’s first F1 victory is drawing near?
Regardless, the driver who has 15 podiums but no wins (breaking Nick Heidfeld’s record), remains determined: he has everything it takes to achieve his first success in F1. He insists the issue isn’t mental: the real problem is Max Verstappen and Red Bull…
“I’ve said it before, I don’t need to be more confident. There’s more proof from China that we can win.”
“I said at the beginning of the year: I think we can compete against Red Bull and that we can win this year. It won’t be easy. I don’t think it will happen soon, but it will require the right day, the right time, good conditions, things that suit our car better – I have 100% confidence in the team and I trust in my ability to do it.”
“But it has to be the right place, the right time. I don’t think we are generally close enough at the moment. But I want to believe.”
“It’s not often that I have faith in something, whether it be myself, my abilities, or other things of this sort sometimes. But I’m trying to change, to do better, and one of those things is to have more confidence in what I can and what we can achieve, and one of them is saying ‘I think we can win a race this year.'”
Stella has faith in Norris… and in the developments of McLaren F1.
McLaren F1 could also further progress in the hierarchy in Miami: Woking is expecting developments.
Andrea Stella, the team principal, places the arrival of these parts in the long term, especially since the famous developments introduced at the Austrian Grand Prix last year.
“We have lost ground recently because we had gained a lot previously, while they (the other teams) were not developing.”
“That’s why we need to look at things in the long term and, over this long period, we are on a solid trajectory. If we maintain this trajectory over the next 12 months, why not? We could reach Red Bull.”
It goes without saying, Stella also has full confidence in Lando Norris’s abilities to chase his first victory.
Has Lando thus become one of the best drivers on the grid?
“In Grand Prix racing, he seems to become more consistent and more capable of understanding what’s going on. What we call race mastery seems to be becoming increasingly important and more precise in him. In China, he did a very good job by working on opportunities with his engineers and the support from the factory to make some small adjustments so as to exploit the car’s potential more extensively. All credit to him.”
Norris Eyes First F1 Win Amid McLaren’s Rise. Norris Eyes First F1 Win Amid McLaren’s Rise
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