Norris heads into the new season armed with an extended, multi-million-dollar contract after putting pen to paper on the deal last week that now sees him as one of the highest earners on the grid, although still some way short of rivals Verstappen and Hamilton.
On track, Norris felt confident enough to sign the latest agreement, even though a further two years were remaining on the old contract, in light of his experiences with McLaren last year.
An upgraded car allowed him to finish runner-up in six of the final 14 grands prix, whilst McLaren also rolled out a new wind tunnel and simulator, in addition to which crucial personnel have been hired to keep the upward momentum rolling.
Although Red Bull and Verstappen are again expected to dominate this year, it is a question of how close can the likes of Mercedes’ seven-time champion Hamilton and Norris push the Dutchman.
Despite 104 race starts to date without an F1 win, Norris can sense he is close to finally taking a chequered flag.
“With how we improved last year, with the trajectory (we are on), with the knowledge of what we can further improve on from our learnings, there were moments we were close to winning races,” said Norris. “We were not miles away from a Red Bull.
“Last year, when you think of it, it was the most competitive car ever in Formula 1, and yet a few races we were extremely close.
“If you want to win one race, then we are as close as we have ever been since I’ve been here at McLaren, and for many, many years.
“If you asked me, ‘Do you think you can win races this year? I’d probably be more inclined to say yes’.”
As for pushing Verstappen and Hamilton for this year’s title, that is an altogether different story.
It is now 16 years since McLaren had a drivers’ champion, stretching back to 2008 when Hamilton won the first of his now record-equalling haul.
The feeling is McLaren is on the brink of at least challenging, not just with Norris but also team-mate Oscar Piastri as the Australian builds his experience and knowledge.
Norris is naturally wary of overstating McLaren’s possibilities of fighting for a championship, believing it to be “a bigger step”.
He added: “To go straight into winning races and a championship, I think that’s another level, both for myself, in racing at the top – it’s something I’ve not necessarily done for a while – but also for the whole team. For everyone at the factory, it’s a different level of pressure and excitement.
“It’s something you have to ask yourself now and then. Do I think we’re ready to challenge them? Then absolutely in those situations.
“There have been opportunities where we’ve been fighting against Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, going against them head to head in strategy and pitstops, all of those things.
“The majority of the time we’ve executed things extremely well, so when it comes to pressure, everyone is in a very good position, but as soon as you mention fighting for a championship, everyone’s mentality changes that little bit.
“But I feel I’m ready to go against Max and Lewis and fight against them.
“It just comes down to consistency and small decisions along the way, which are hard to predict when you’re going against these guys because you never know what their next move is, but then they never know what our next move is.
“So a championship, I don’t know. As much as I would love to say ‘Over the next two years’, ’26 is an opportunity for everyone on the grid.
“That’s the big, big question mark. We’ll see how we do this year and then you can ask me the question again.”
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