“I think that Lando could be the favorite this weekend with his high-speed performance,” Mercedes driver George Russell said of Lando Norris and McLaren on Thursday ahead of the Formula 1 race in Suzuka this weekend.
However, Norris himself doesn’t want to know anything about such a role as favorite. It’s “almost a guarantee” that Red Bull will bounce back this weekend, he says, explaining: “I think Red Bull will probably dominate this weekend.”
At the last race in Singapore, the Red Bull drivers didn’t get past fifth and eighth place, while Norris came second behind Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. But can McLaren again be as strong in Japan as it was in Singapore?
When asked whether the Singapore updates for the MCL60 will work similarly well this weekend, Norris replies: “It’s hard to say. I don’t know.” But of course he hopes so, because: “Everything did what it was supposed to do.”
“And I think we have definitely taken some steps forward,” said Norris, who, however, recalled that Suzuka was “a completely different track to Singapore.” He therefore cannot confidently claim “that we are as fast as Red Bull.”
Especially since the McLaren has often lacked consistency this year. Norris explains: “I think if you compare us to Ferrari and Mercedes, then Mercedes was just a lot more consistent than we were. We still fluctuate quite a bit.”
“On a good weekend we can be very, very good and maybe even a little bit ahead,” says Norris, citing the race at Silverstone as an example, in which he came second and was even able to lead the Grand Prix for a short time at the beginning.
“But overall Mercedes probably had the second best car this season, followed by Ferrari and then us,” said Norris. This is also reflected in the World Cup, which is currently led by Red Bull ahead of Mercedes and Ferrari.
McLaren, on the other hand, is only fifth behind Aston Martin, but has been able to catch up with a lot of points on the Silverstone team in recent weeks. And even if you didn’t come to Japan as favorites, it could still be a good weekend.