Lando Norris has rejected Aston Martin rival Fernando Alonso’s suggestion that McLaren has become “over-confident”.
Alonso made his remark in the build-up to the Qatar Grand Prix, claiming it was “good” that McLaren was “over-confident” given its run of success which at that stage had culminated in a two-three finish for Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri at the previous race in Japan.
“Let’s see if we can beat them in Abu Dhabi,” added Alonso, referencing the battle between the two teams in the constructors’ championship.
McLaren then underpinned its form with a stunning weekend in Qatar as the team scored a one-three in the sprint, spearheaded by Piastri who then finished second in the main race ahead of Norris.
McLaren is now just 11 points behind Aston Martin whose own form has dipped considerably since Alonso’s run of six podiums in the opening eight races that at the time made the two-time champion the main challenger to Red Bull.
“Fernando said we were over-confident,” said Norris. “I think we’re just doing a good job, not just in terms of pace but (in Qatar) we had a 1.8-second pit stop, which is pretty impressive from the guys.
“They’ve been working extremely hard so to reward the whole team consistently is only more motivating and a bigger boost every weekend.
“They like the taste of success. It’s the first time they’re getting it consistently, and I think that only makes them want it more and more and more every weekend.”
Referencing himself and Piastri, and reflecting on the first-lap crash at the Lusail International Circuit between Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, Norris added: “I think we are both doing a decent job, too, so we’ll keep it up.
“We know that Mercedes is very quick, probably almost as quick as us (in Qatar), just they keep making mistakes. I’m sure if they have a clean weekend they will maybe make our life a bit more tricky.
“I think we’re definitely not overconfident. We’re confident, we need to be, but we know there’s still going to be some races where we’re not going to be quite as strong.”
Following the best weekend of his rookie F1 career so far, Piastri rightly took the plaudits for a stellar performance that saw him win the sprint from a deserved pole position, before clinching his best grand prix result in finishing runner-up to Max Verstappen.
Norris knows that could, and perhaps should, have been him as a mistake in the final corner in the sprint shootout cost him pole when he was up in all the sectors on Piastri going into the closing metres.
In qualifying for the grand prix, Norris was left annoyed with himself again as a time that would have been good enough for second was eventually deleted for exceeding track limits.
Despite finishing third in both the sprint and grand prix, it was a case of what might have been for the Briton.
“I guess if I want to be honest with myself, I should have fought for two pole positions, and potentially two victories,” said Norris.
“I know it’s a big thing to say, but I think if things had gone well, if I had just done a better job and hadn’t made the mistakes I did…
“It’s why I was so frustrated because I knew what was on the cards, what we were able to potentially achieve, and that was victories.
“I feel like it was a weekend of missed opportunities for myself to take the fight to Max, and at least give ourselves that opportunity.
“There are good things and bad things. I feel like I’ve missed out and didn’t do what I should have done and achieved what I should have achieved.
“But I’m definitely still happy with P3. I can’t take anything away from that. But in the back of my head, I know I should have done more.”
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