McLaren surged in performance ahead of the summer break, but Lando Norris believes the team is just getting started and is entering “the most exciting phase” to date. McLaren, which once dominated F1, has slipped in the rankings in recent years, hitting rock bottom in 2017 when it finished last in the constructors’ standings during an ill-fated partnership with Honda.
The team’s struggles led to the departure of Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne, while Lando Norris was promoted from reserve driver to join the 2019 line-up alongside Carlos Sainz. That season, McLaren finished ‘best of the rest’ behind the big three teams, finishing third in 2020 when Ferrari suffered a slump. However, he lost to Alpine in the battle for 4th place in the 2022 ranking. McLaren got off to a bad start this season, admitting they missed a key aspect of their off-season MCL60 development. But a series of upgrades, first introduced in Austria, have made McLaren stronger since then. After back-to-back podiums at Silverstone and the Hungaroring, Norris is energized by the improvements that result from a number of behind-the-scenes changes to key technical staff and infrastructure. “Where are we in that story? It’s been so up and down that I can’t say, but I’d like to believe that we’re at the most exciting stage in terms of who we’re up against,” Norris told Speedcafe. Norris praised “the work and camaraderie at the MTC[McLaren Technology Center]about how they tried to develop the car and their ambition to come up with new ideas”. Earlier this week, Norris appreciated the work of Andrea Stella, who took over as team principal from Andreas Seidl. “I think there’s been a big uptrend in atmosphere and atmosphere since Andrea came in,” Norris said. Shortly after, the team also parted ways with technical director James Key, with Peter Prodromou taking over aerodynamics and David Sanchez car concept and performance. Engineering and design will be handled by Rob Marshall, who is coming to Woking from Red Bull in 2024, and Woking has a new simulator and a new wind tunnel nearing completion. All of this, of course, is good news for Norris. “We have good people coming from Ferrari and Red Bull. They have a lot of respect, knowledge and expertise in all the different areas,” said Norris. “They seem to have more knowledge and have a clearer path of what really needs to change. That gives me a lot of confidence.” “I’m looking forward to it. I believe it’s more exciting than where we could have been. So many things have taken a good step forward,” stressed Norris. Norris is currently eighth in the drivers’ standings behind Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari drivers and Fernando Alonso, who has made a strong start with his new Aston Martin team. Despite Aston Martin’s recent decline, with 10 races to go, Norris is 93 points behind McLaren in the constructors’ standings and 80 points behind Alonso in the drivers’ standings. But if McLaren’s current form continues, Norris will be just over 20 points behind the trio of Carlos Sainz, George Russell and Charles Leclerc. And Norris holds a healthy lead over his rookie teammate Oscar Piastri in 11th. Piastri performed well in the recent Belgian sprint race, starting from the front row and briefly taking the lead from Max Verstappen before settling in second.
2023-08-15 00:14:29
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