LONDON – McLaren’s Lando Norris is optimistic Formula One champions Red Bull and Max Verstappen could be beaten this season – but doing it repeatedly would be another matter.
Red Bull won 21 of 22 races in 2023 in the most dominant of championships, with only Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz denying them a clean sweep, and triple world champion Verstappen triumphant a record 19 times.
Briton Norris finished second six times and third once, with teammate Oscar Piastri also a runner-up in Qatar, where he won the sprint race, as McLaren ended the season strongly after a slow start.
The drivers were asked, after giving the new MCL38 car its first laps at a damp Silverstone on Feb 14, about their chances against Red Bull.
Aston Martin’s technical director Dan Fallows said earlier in the week that he considered Red Bull to be “absolutely beatable” and the McLaren drivers agreed.
“If you were to say ‘are they beatable?’ you’re going to have to say yes. I think we want to believe to say yes, because we were very close at certain times (in 2023) and at certain times we did beat them,” said Norris.
“The question is can we beat them over a season because I think that’s going to be the challenging thing... I think that’s going to be very difficult to do, with how well they are performing.
“So, yeah, optimistic. Possible to beat them at certain times, I want to believe so. Yes.”
The 24-year-old had been linked with a move to Red Bull or Mercedes, following Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari for the 2025 season.
But Norris committed his future to McLaren in January by signing a new contract which is set to keep him at the British team for at least another three seasons.
Australian Piastri agreed with his teammate, saying the team could be very optimistic if they could maintain the rate of development.
“We also have to be aware it’s not just Red Bull we’re fighting,” he added.
“We were in a very intense battle with Mercedes and Ferrari, especially in the second half of the year in terms of championship points.
“I think there will be other top teams making progress as well.”
Team principal Andrea Stella said he expected Red Bull to start the season in Bahrain on March 2 still “enjoying some advantage” because they had been able to switch their focus to the new car early in 2023.
Both drivers said their first impressions of the new McLaren car were positive, even if the track was wet and the tyres unrepresentative.
“The main thing is I jumped in and felt very comfortable straight away, no surprises or anything,” said Norris. “As these kinds of days go, it was smooth sailing,” said Piastri. AFP, REUTERS
