McLaren driver Lando Norris has recognised the improvement from one of his F1 rivals at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Norris will start Sunday’s race from third on the grid after what Anthony Davidson called a ‘brilliant’ showing in Q3.
And speaking to Channel 4 after the session, he acknowledged that one of his competitors had made a step forward compared to last year.
Norris will start immediately behind the Red Bull pair of Max Verstappen, who’s on pole for the fourth straight race, and Sergio Perez.
Carlos Sainz, winner of the Australian Grand Prix last time out, lines up alongside the Briton in fourth.
He’ll also have to be wary of Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso and teammate Oscar Piastri just behind.
Third represents Norris’ best qualifying performance of the season so far, with the 24-year-old improving at each race.
He qualified seventh in Bahrain, and then sixth in Saudi Arabia – the only time so far that Piastri has had the upper hand.
While he started third in Australia, that was only because Perez received a three-place penalty for impeding Nico Hulkenberg.
Lando Norris ‘less confident’ of beating Sergio Perez
Heading into Sunday’s race, Norris will at the very least look to repeat last year’s podium finish.
He and Piastri came home second and third behind Verstappen in 2023.
But Perez helped to open the door for the Woking outfit with arguably his poorest showing of the season.
He qualified fifth on the grid, around eight tenths down on Verstappen, and then had to retire from the race after twice making contact with other cars.
This time around, though, he managed to get within seven hundredths of his teammate’s pole lap.
As such, Norris isn’t sure whether McLaren will be able to steal the runner-up spot at Suzuka.
“He’s done a much better job this weekend than this time last year,” he said of Perez.
“He says he’s got act together, it’s looking like it. So [we’re] maybe less confident that he’s the one Red Bull we can get.”
Sergio Perez fighting for Red Bull F1 seat
Perez knows he has a fight on his hands to retain his coveted drive for the 2025 season.
Two-time world champion Alonso is among those with his eyes on the Mexican’s spot.
Significantly, Christian Horner has reportedly made the Spaniard his number one choice to potentially Perez.
However, Red Bull are apparently prepared to give the former Sauber driver plenty of time before they make a decision.
There’s a possibility that they will hand Perez a one-year extension before re-signing Alex Albon for the 2026 campaign.
While Saturday marked Red Bull’s first qualifying one-two of the season, Perez could follow home Verstappen for the third time this year if he holds station on race day.
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