A bullish Lando Norris has warned that he and McLaren are closer than ever before to catching Red Bull ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.
A week after a pit-stop error behind the safety car cost the Briton a shot at a second grand prix victory at the Canadian Grand Prix, Norris is brimming with confidence two days out from a return to racing in Barcelona.
“There is more chance and possibilities now,” he said of reeling in Max Verstappen and his Red Bull team. “Especially if Mercedes are in the fight; more chance of having a bigger swing of points.
“A bad weekend for Max was third but it could be fifth or sixth now. And if you can be the guy who wins, within one weekend you can turn quite a lot of points around fairly quickly. If it goes like that, there is a higher chance.”
Norris goes into this weekend in Barcelona third in the championship on 131 points but 63 points behind Verstappen and with just one F1 grand prix victory to the Dutchman’s six in 2024.
With McLaren resurgent and other teams closing the gap on the previously dominant Red Bull, Norris said even the usually blemish-free Verstappen might begin to crack.
“It is rare he makes mistakes or messes up qualifying,” said Norris. “But with more pressure you never know how that changes, and always with pressure it is always easier to make mistakes.
“They have been a little bit more up and down than what we have so we just need to capitalise on when they’re down, and try and be the one car that is on the cup.
“Now it’s even more important to get the strategy right and the smaller things correct because, when the cars are so close on pace, those things make a big difference.”
