Will Buxton and Lando Norris had a difference of opinion on McLaren ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend.
Norris arrives in Suzuka sixth in the drivers’ championship, one point behind teammate Oscar Piastri.
And speaking on the Weekend Warm-Up show for F1TV, Buxton shared what he’d heard from Norris about McLaren.
Norris bagged his first podium of the season last time out in Australia, briefly threatening to challenge Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for second.
Like the two Scuderia drivers in front of him, Norris capitalised on a mechnical first retirement in two years for championship leader Max Verstappen.
Norris started the campaign by coming home sixth at the Bahrain Grand Prix and then could only manage eighth in Saudi Arabia after a strategic gamble backfired.
McLaren are sitting in a somewhat lonely third place in the constructors’ table as it stands, 38 points behind Ferrari in second but 29 ahead of Mercedes in fourth.
That represents an improvement of one place on their final 2023 position, with Zak Brown’s outfit appearing to leapfrog the Silver Arrows over the winter.
Will Buxton says Lando Norris is pleased with McLaren start
When Buxton spoke to Norris, he suggested that McLaren may be somewhat disappointed with their efforts so far.
After all, it’s Ferrari who appear to have stolen a march to establish themselves as Red Bull’s nearest challengers.
Norris, however, countered that the team are ‘feeling pretty good’ about their current situation, and are especially optimistic for this weekend’s race.
Buxton said: “When I spoke to him, I said ‘it’s not been the start to the season you might have hoped for’.
“And he said ‘no, no, no, actually we’re really feeling pretty good about where we’re at’, but particularly here, they’re strong in the high-speed stuff.
“And this circuit, with a couple of slow-speed exceptions, is all about the medium and high speed, long, flowing sections.”
Lando Norris runs special helmet design at Japanese GP
Ahead of the race, Norris unveiled a special one-off helmet on his X account (formerly Twitter).
While the Briton’s normal lid features a fluorescent yellow design with a black pattern, this design is predominantly pink with streaks of purple and touches of white.
Norris will hope to at least match his result at this event last year, when he finished second behind race winner Verstappen.
After coming home third at Albert Park, he now holds the record for the most podium finishes without a race win.
Former Williams, Sauber and Lotus driver Nick Heidfeld previously held that unfortunate title with 13.
Damon Hill has predicted that Norris will take his tally to 15 in Japan, with Carlos Sainz and Verstappen beating him.
Norris said after the race in Melbourne that he was still struggling to extract the absolute maximum from the car when he truly pushed.
The 24-year-old is fighting to maintain his status as the top of the dog in the team ahead of second-year partner Piastri.
Peter Windsor reckons the Australian’s mentality could give him a long-term edge, while former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan wants him to show more fight.
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