Norris admits McLaren’s past F1 seasons have been ‘pretty poor’

Lando Norris admits that McLaren’s past few seasons in Formula 1 have fallen below expectations, describing them as “pretty poor.”

McLaren finished third in the Constructors’ Championship in Norris’ second year with the team in 2020, but the Woking side slipped backwards to classify fifth last term.

That was followed by a disastrous start to the current campaign after McLaren’s top brass conceded it had missed development targets on its MCL60 car over the winter.

However, a series of extensive upgrades since the Austrian Grand Prix has propelled the British squad towards the front, with Norris scoring successive podiums at Silverstone and the Hungaroring.

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McLaren’s recent progress will be aided by a series of technical recruits set to arrive next year, alongside its new simulator and wind tunnel facilities coming online.

Norris believes McLaren has been playing catch up compared to its rivals and the updated infrastructure is an area that should have been addressed years ago.

“That’s something I look forward to and therefore I’m very happy about, because the last few seasons have been pretty poor,” Norris told Speedcafe.

“I can honestly say they’ve been pretty poor in terms of, as a team, with our facility – our facility looks amazing, but it’s not even up to the spec of what it has been of other teams.

“These little things also, wind tunnel, simulator, all these things, we’re now on track to what we should be doing and probably should have done years ago.”

Those developments on and away from the track have left Norris excited by McLaren’s future, but the 23-year-old insists that he remains “impatient” for short-term gains.

“Those are the things that I love, just because it’s direct,” he explained.

“The future is just too far away, what’s the point speaking of things so far away?

“So my motivation is just my love for what I do, simply, I really enjoyed doing what I’m doing. I have since I was a kid, that’s why I do what I do here.

“I can’t think of doing any other jobs, like having a job in anything else, you know.

“My motivation is to stay in Formula 1 and do what I love to do. I think that’s quite easy enough to stay motivated.

“If that doesn’t motivate you, then I don’t know what will.

“Theirs is some… trying to complete a story with McLaren, to go from where we were years ago, this kind of bumpy road we’ve been on the last couple, to feeling a bit more positive about what things are coming our way in the near future and in the far future.”

McLaren’s drastic upturn has seen it eclipse Alpine to reside in a comfortable fifth position in the Constructors’ standings.

However, the team remains 88 points behind Ferrari, who are a further five points shy of Aston Martin.