Lando Norris is cautious about McLaren’s chances at this weekend’s Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, citing that Ferrari’s improvement will make it a resurgent threat.
McLaren’s strength in high-speed corners was accentuated upon the team’s transformation from being a backmarker to a front-running fixture with upgrades last term.
Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri delivered the Woking-based squad double podiums at the high-speed Japan and Qatar circuits, behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
However, Norris has warned that Ferrari, who landed a 1-2 finish in the last round in Australia, has taken a huge step forward with its high-speed cornering performance.
The Italian marque has emerged as the most consistent contender to Red Bull in the nascent stages of 2024, with Norris admitting McLaren remains “one step” behind.
Asked if he thought McLaren would take a step forward at Suzuka considering the side’s competitiveness at the venue last season, Norris answered: “Not really.
“I think if you look back to here [Australia] last year we were not terrible considering the car that we had.
“We’ve now come back with a good car and we’ve shown what we can do but I think this was always going to be a good weekend for us. “
“Suzuka proved that last year. I think they’re kind of similar. You’ve got a lot of high speed.
“The problem is Ferrari have improved their high speed a lot and that’s where they were struggling last year. So that’s why they’ve been able to take such a good step forward.
“I think we can still have a good weekend. We can still look forward to it. And I would love to say that if we can get two cars on a podium again, it would be a lovely weekend.
“But I think we have two more cars this year that we’re competing against on these types of circuits, not just Max.”
However, Suzuka’s shortage of slow-speed corners will aid McLaren’s prospects, with Norris admitting that its MCL38 car has a “significant” deficit in those sections.
McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella has teased that it will have a seismic upgrade package coming once the European season commences at Imola next month.
But the Italian, who has entered his second season at the helm, conceded that it would take McLaren “another 12 months” to address the limitations of its package.
Nevertheless, McLaren has sustained its strongest start to an F1 campaign since 2012 and occupies third place in the Constructors’ Championship with 55 points.
The British outfit has announced on the eve of the fourth round of the season the departure of ex-Ferrari engineer David Sanchez, who began work three months ago.
Sanchez had been signed to be a leading pillar in McLaren’s three-pronged technical structure but has exited his role following a “misalignment” over responsibilities.
