Lando Norris has voiced his support for McLaren and believes the team can recapture the pace that saw its drivers become frequent podium visitors in recent years.
The all-new aerodynamic regulations introduced for 2022 have seen something of a reset with Red Bull emerging as the car to beat.
Mercedes, which was the class of the field under the previous generation of rules, has slipped to third while McLaren has dropped to fifth best having finished no lower than fourth since 2018.
With two races remaining this season it is within touching distance of Alpine for fourth in the constructors’ championship, though that remains only an outside chance and owes more to the Enstone squad’s lack of reliability than anything else.
“I didn’t come into the season expecting us to be on the podium every weekend and fighting, maybe not top steps, but fighting for third and fourth, and fifth, I wasn’t probably expecting that every weekend,” Norris said when asked if the challenge of the current campaign had rattled his resolve.
“It’s always hard, especially when it’s a new car, new era of cars, to know exactly what’s going to happen.
“People are always going to find much better solutions, you know, like with Red Bull and not porposing and not bouncing anywhere near as much as other people, Mercedes with their car, like there’s some big differences.”
McLaren’s pace has been inconsistent.
The team had a slow start to the year when it suffered braking issues during pre-season testing, which carried on into the opening rounds.
It remains a weakness but also set the team on the back foot in terms of development as resources were diverted to resolving that issue early on.
It has made ground over the course of the year, though Norris’ third at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in April remains its only podium.
“I think over the coming years things will shrink down and everyone’s going to get much closer,” Norris opined.
“I guess you always, truthfully, feel a little bit disappointed when you just expect a little bit more than what you’re you’re achieving but I think everyone in the team has that.
“It’s not just a me feeling, everyone in McLaren wants to win and wants to fight back and make a lot of progress every weekend. And every month and every season.
“So I think everyone feels it and everyone still has a lot of faith in the team, and everyone is working extremely hard to understand everything and trying to put in those steps that we need to get back to where Ferrari are and where Red Bull are, and where Mercedes.
“I don’t think it’s changed anything,” he added.
“I’m still looking forward to the future massively with McLaren and there’s always going to be just tough, tough places and tough parts of the season. This is one of them – or tough seasons and this is one of them.
“So yes, it’s tough. It’s frustrating at times because you feel like you put in some good laps, and you feel disappointed that you only be P6 or P10 or whatever it is.”
McLaren has two high-profile investments that will soon come online, bolstering the squad’s ability to develop off-track. It has a new wind tunnel that is nearing completion and a state-of-the-art simulator also due to come online in the near future.
While both offer limited benefits to the 2023 car, it is expected the squad will reap the full benefits for the following season.
Joining Norris at the team next year is Oscar Piastri, the 2021 Formula 2 Champion, who replaces Daniel Ricciardo.
