Lando Norris: Unbeatable label on McLaren is ‘nonsense’
SUZUKA, Japan — Lando Norris has hit out at the suggestion McLaren have an unbeatable Formula 1 car this year, saying anyone saying so is talking “nonsense.”
Early championship leader Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri have shared a win apiece to kick off the season, justifying McLaren’s preseason tag of favourites.
Piastri headed a McLaren one-two in China last time out, with George Russell‘s Mercedes finishing 11 seconds behind in third place.
Despite McLaren’s perfect start to the year Norris thinks some rivals and pundits have been wrong to label the season as over already.
“I think the people that say that, like the ‘unbeatable’ stuff is just nonsense, they just like to talk crap sometimes,” Norris said ahead of Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix.
“But I mean, it’s your job as the media to figure out these things, I think, and not just listen to what everyone says and write what they say.
“You have to try and understand what they’re saying and prove that what they’re saying is a fact, rather than I can just say a load of crap and you write it down, but it’s up to you, I think, to get across the facts of what is true, and not just write nonsense that people like to say.”
Things have turned around quickly in Formula 1.
Twelve months ago Norris was still winless and McLaren had made a slow start to the season, while Red Bull looked set to dominant the season.
That all changed when McLaren introduced an upgrade at May’s Miami Grand Prix, the sixth race of 2024, where Norris claimed the first victory of his Formula 1 career.
Norris said McLaren’s current advantage is not the same as the deficit it overturned last year.
“I think if we go back one year ago, Red Bull were still a lot further ahead than we are now,” he said. “So I think we’re doing a very good job and I feel like people are talking about us a lot more now, I think it’s because of where we’ve come from over the last year and a half, the deficit we’ve come from.
“But the car Red Bull had at this time last year was a lot better than what we have now, compared to our competitors. So I think you have to take that into account.”
When asked what it felt like to now be the team with a target on its back, Norris said: “We all feel good as a team, knowing that we have a strong car, not always the easiest car to drive, but a very strong car and the strongest car on the grid.
“The target, I think, is a nice thing, like, we’re still new to it, I mean, Mercedes had it for like five, six years where they were the targets, so I think we’ve got a bit of time before we get to those kind of numbers, so for now, it’s still like a motivating thing, so while we were at the front, we know that they’re behind us, so it really pushes us.
“At some point it’s only human that you start to get a little bit complacent with certain things, but I think for us we’ve pushed even more into this season, to start the season off on the right foot, ending with a very good year last year and we want to still try and increase our advantage more than what it is now.
“So, yeah, it’s a good thing for us and we know that people love to talk and just say random things and stuff, that’s not true, but I hope that you guys are the ones that figure out, the people who talk crap and nonsense and figure out, you know, what the facts are of it.”
Source: espn.com