McLaren Formula 1 driver Lando Norris is adamant that he had the pace to beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and finish in second place in the 2024 Australian Grand Prix.
Norris had capitalised on Leclerc abandoning his final run in qualifying to start ahead of the Monegasque, and he retained third position in the opening laps of the race.
The Briton moved up to second once Max Verstappen retired with a stuck right rear brake, but McLaren elected to pit team-mate Oscar Piastri ahead of Norris on Lap 9.
That enabled both Leclerc and Piastri to emerge ahead of Norris when he stopped five laps later, with McLaren then ordering a swap of the cars during the second stint.
However, Norris was unable to reel in Leclerc to prevent Ferrari from landing a memorable 1-2 finish, having to settle for McLaren’s first podium at Albert Park since 2014.
Asked whether McLaren’s pace had emerged as a surprise in Australia, Norris retorted: “I think when you take the Red Bull out of it, I would say no.
“I think our pace has been good all weekend. We put things together very nicely yesterday. We showed a good long one and high fuel pace on Friday.”
Although Norris accepts that race winner Carlos Sainz remained unbeatable for McLaren, he contends that he had the pace to overcome Leclerc to split the scarlet cars.
“So I wouldn’t have said we had no chance [of the podium],” he continued. “I didn’t expect probably us to be competing against the Ferraris today.
“I think our pace was not as good as Carlos, but probably better than Charles.
“So I think if I was being honest, we maybe missed out a little bit on an opportunity to be P2 today. But for us to say that is a good sign. And I think it’s a good positive for the whole team.
“It’s a good boost. It’s nice to be back on the podium. And yeah, whether or not the Red Bull was there or not, our pace was good today. And hopefully that continues for more races.”
The McLaren mechanics had been in the pit lane prepared to service one of their two cars on Lap 34 but retreated when Ferrari opted to pit Leclerc for the second time.
Norris has revealed that McLaren was planning to trigger the undercut on Leclerc when Ferrari’s call meant it reverted to extending his stint another six laps in the end.
“I mean, we didn’t leave anything on the table,” Norris answered when questioned on what McLaren could have done to get back ahead of Leclerc.
“But yeah, the lap we were going to undercut, he boxed. So then again, you have to go on off and then do kind of a different strategy.
“So we got close in the second stint. I got very close. If I boxed, I think I would have undercut. But he boxed, so I missed that opportunity.
“So you always think, what happens if we did it one lap earlier? But it’s tough to make all those decisions all the time. And it can easily go wrong at the same time.
“There are always consequences of doing so. So I think we still did a very good job today. Third and fourth for us as a team is positive and a good load of points.
“But they were clearly a better team. And they have a better car at the minute. So whether or not we could beat them, they have a better car. They have a quicker car.
“And we have to work harder until we can match what they’re doing.”
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