Lando Norris
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Despite missing out on a first race win this season to Kimi Antonelli and Mercedes, Lando Norris thinks McLaren have reason to be optimistic.
Norris settled for P2 behind Antonelli at Miami, earning his first podium finish this season to wrap up a successful and resurgent weekend for McLaren.
While Norris isn’t a fan of the new regulation changes, he did note after the race that there was an improvement in the quality of racing.
Lando Norris tried to chase down a win, and set the fastest lap at the Miami Grand Prix in the process! ⏱️
Despite missing out after a heated battle on the track, Norris was complimentary of Antonelli and the winning shift the youngster put in at Miami.
But Lando Norris wants to take the good with the bad. While McLaren are still some ways behind Mercedes, the reigning world champion suggested they’ve closed the gap slightly.
READ MORE: Lando Norris hits out at Max Verstappen after watching Miami Grand Prix battle with Oscar Piastri
Lando Norris says McLaren are ‘too weak’ compared to Mercedes, need to close the gap
Speaking in the Miami Grand Prix post-race press conference, Lando Norris suggested that McLaren still had to make up the gap in pace between themselves and Mercedes.
He noted that the MCL40’s pace in medium and high speeds wasn’t as good as Mercedes, even though they’ve made some improvements in that area.
“I don’t think so. We’re talking small margins. But his pace at the end of the stint in the medium was a lot stronger than me. It was impressive how good they were at the end of stint one. I think we both were pushing flat out for every stint.
“He could always stay a bit closer to me when he was behind me than I could ever get to him when I was behind him. I think that one of the things that always made it a little bit tough was where our strengths and weaknesses lie.
“We’re not good enough in the medium speed, which is turn four, turn five, and turn six – the place that leads onto the longest straight and the place where you can start to make someone defend, and you can start to make something happen because we’re too weak in the high speed.
“It was always too difficult to start an attack or making him do something that could give us a better chance. I think we’re still missing a little bit. But it can be as little as a tenth. A tenth isn’t a lot, but it is a lot on a day like today. So we have to keep working hard if we definitely want the wins.”
READ MORE: Martin Brundle worried by McLaren’s ‘bizarre’ Miami GP qualifying after Lando Norris’ Sprint win
Some brilliant performances in South Beach! But who is your Driver of the Day for the Miami Grand Prix?
Lando Norris might be proven right about McLaren improvement
While Norris believes there is still a gap between Mercedes and McLaren, he did suggest that this gap has shrunk slightly. And he’s not wrong to suggest that.
According to Motorsport.com, McLaren were about eight-tenths behind Mercedes in race pace as of the Japanese Grand Prix.
With Norris suggesting the gap between the two isn’t much, even going as far as to say it could be as little as a tenth, that would mean McLaren has gained up to seven-tenths in race pace compared to Mercedes.
Of course, more data would give a far more accurate read of the gap in race pace between the two teams. But McLaren have made enormous strides since the start of the season.
And with the team set to introduce a major upgrade package at the Canadian Grand Prix later this month, it could see them finally catch up to Mercedes.
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