It speaks volumes about the progress made by McLaren over the past 12 months that Lando Norris crossed the line at the Spanish Grand Prix just a few seconds behind Max Verstappen and was disappointed with the outcome of the race.
After securing the second pole position of his career last Saturday, Lando Norris was a clean getaway away from adding to his victory at the Miami Grand Prix.
Unfortunately, his McLaren bog slightly bogged down in second gear and before he knew it Max Verstappen was alongside him on the inside of the main straight and George Russell was sailing past the pair of them around the outside of turn one.
He attempted a slightly altered strategy to try and close in on the triple world champion and while Norris closed the gap on his rival during both stints, he couldn’t make up enough ground to win the race.
Norris was incredibly frustrated after the race and said in his post-race interview, via Formula 1’s website: “Not could, should have won. I got a bad start, simple as that.
“The car was incredible today, I think we were for sure the quickest, I just lost it in the beginning. So yeah, disappointed, but a lot of positives, one negative and that kind of ruined everything.
Speaking on the Inside The Piranha Club Podcast, journalist Ben Hunt addressed Norris’s recent comments and how they’re seen by the team.
While McLaren are obviously very happy with their star driver, they would like the 24-year-old to stop beating himself up so much and be more confident in his abilities.
If McLaren can continue to improve the car at the current rate then it won’t be long before he’s a serious championship contender.
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McLaren want Lando Norris to be more confident in his abilities
Speaking about the British driver, Hunt said: “He’s hard on himself and I just think the approach needs to change, personally that’s how I feel.
“And I think the people in his team as well feel a little bit the same, they’ve always seen him as this guy that beats himself up and I think they would like to see a little bit of a change in mentality into someone that’s a little bit more confident and is able to take stuff in their stride rather than dwell too much on it.”
His colleague Rebecca Clancy added: “He’s had one race win, absolutely no doubt he’ll get more, but with this level of confidence it still doesn’t feel like he’s very confident.
“It’s absolutely brilliant that he’s devastated to finish second and what a great place to be in that that’s the way McLaren feel now, not in McLaren but the whole scenario.
“He almost doesn’t believe that he can do it again, even with the Miami win he was saying he got lucky with the safety car, almost not realising that he’s got this incredible vehicle underneath him to produce the wins.”
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Red Bull taking notice of Lando Norris after recent successes
While Norris may not be as bullish in public as McLaren potentially want him to be, their rivals are well aware of his talents.
Red Bull chief Helmut Marko recently suggested that Norris and Oscar Piastri are the best driver pairing on the grid.
Although neither driver is quite on the level of Max Verstappen just yet, they’re both in much better form than Sergio Perez.
Norris has been linked with a move to Red Bull in the past, although it’s incredibly unlikely that there’s any movement on that front considering he’s tied down to a long-term deal with McLaren.
Marko has also shared what Norris can’t yet do that Verstappen can and that’s giving him the advantage in their recent battles.
The Austrian Grand Prix should suit Red Bull at their home race, but Norris is also a massive fan of the track after securing his first career podium at the Red Bull Ring in 2020.
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