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Lando Norris is more worried about the drivers behind him than Max Verstappen at the 2023 Dutch GP. Speaking in the press conference ahead of the race, the Briton felt that the McLaren upgrades are yet to unleash their full potential in the races to come.
Assessing the upgrades and their performance so far, Lando Norris felt that McLaren were surprised at how competitive they were. The Briton believes part of it was due to their upgrade and partly due to Aston Martin taking a step back.
However, the 23-year-old felt that they were not expecting to challenge the Red Bull cars but instead compete with other midfielders such as Williams, Mercedes, and Aston Martin.
Asked by Sportskeeda how confident he is with the upgraded McLaren and what one can expect in the future, Lando Norris explained:
“Sadly, I would say I'm still more worried about the people behind than the car in front, which is, I think, still a good thing. You know, we didn't expect to really challenge the Red Bull at all when we had the upgrade in Austria. And I think we're still pleasantly surprised by how competitive we've been."
He added:
"A mixture of us taking a step forward and, you know, Aston taking, I would say, a step backward from where they were at the beginning of the season, and Ferrari just not looking as good as they were last year or they were also in the beginning of the season."
Lando Norris continued:
"So there's definitely more to come. Even like the rear wing that we have. We've chose this one today just because of a, yeah, safety with these conditions, you know, and not wanting to.”
He further added:
“We lost one yesterday, so just want to make sure I’ve got it for future weekends. So there was a bit of lag time in the bag, right? If we just used the other rear wing we brought this weekend, it’s a step forward, it's a more efficient wing. But we chose not to use it."
He concluded:
"So there are little things that we're going to consistently try to bring. Maybe not for much longer, because there's a time when we focus to next year. But there’s more to come and I think because the car has taken so many big steps forward, we're confident that it’s alive and there's more things to improve.”
The second-place qualifier was optimistic about their upgrades and looks forward to seeing their full potential as the season progresses.
The Papaya Orange team has been on front down for the second time this season, a huge leap ahead from where they started at the beginning of the 2023 season.
Lando Norris reckons Max Verstappen is beatable in the 2023 season
Lando Norris feels Max Verstappen is beatable and that there have been times this season when the competition was very close.
The Briton felt that although the Dutch champion has made very few mistakes in the 2023 season, capitalizing on his mistakes will be critical for his rivals who want to beat him.
The McLaren driver felt that there would always be a chance and an opportunity to beat the Dutchman, whether in qualifying or the race.
Asked if the Dutch champion would go unbeaten in the remaining races of the season, Lando Norris said:
“I'll say no, just because there's been times when we’ve been very close, you know? Yeah, there's been plenty of times it's been super, super close, whether Max has made a mistake and therefore it's close or not, but there's two differences, whether it’s Qualifying or the race. I think in the race, at the minute, we’ve kind of got no chance unless someone gets unlucky or he gets unlucky and something happens."
He added:
"Just got a very good driver in a good car and he's doing the job he needs to do. So I think full respect to that. But I wouldn't say no, because there's always a chance, like on a day like today when he can make a mistake."
Lando Norris continued:
"Sadly, he doesn't, but it can happen. It happens to everyone and it can still happen to him. So there's a time and a place and we’re kind of still waiting, everyone's waiting for it to happen, but just not today.”
Lando Norris, who is closest to Verstappen as a friend, reckons that the Dutchman has been doing a fantastic job. Disagreeing that the reigning champion was unbeatable and invincible, the British driver feels there will be opportunities in the future to defeat him.
The Red Bull champion is currently 125 points clear of his teammate Sergio Perez. On the other hand, the McLaren driver is eighth in the driver’s championship with a total of 69 points, most of which he has scored in the last few race weekends.
