Lando Norris has claimed exaggerations about McLaren’s pace advantage in the 2024 Formula 1 season should be seen as a “compliment” to the team’s recent progress.
McLaren’s prolonged wait since 1998 to win the Constructors’ Championship ended last month as Norris prevailing in Abu Dhabi witnessed it edge Ferrari to the crown.
However, McLaren’s success was tinged with retrospective thoughts on the various missed opportunities that contributed to the team not landing a coveted title double.
Indeed, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen retained the Drivers’ crown with two rounds to spare, despite the general consensus that McLaren’s MCL38 was the benchmark car.
But while he’s admitted that as a collective a better challenge could’ve been mounted, Norris has argued that McLaren’s woes and overall competitiveness were exaggerated.
Asked whether he viewed the 2024 season as what might have been, Norris told The Race: “I think that’s quite obvious.”
“Not as many [spurned chances] as people think. And people in general think it’s been a lot worse than it’s been, that we’ve been a lot quicker than we have been.
“It’s a compliment because it shows how far we’ve come, and I’m proud that in those days, whether Singapore or Zandvoort, I’ve still been the one that’s there and making the most of those opportunities.”
Norris, though, has acknowledged there were races where McLaren let victories slip, including twice in mixed conditions when strategic blunders hampered his advances.
“But there’s clearly ones that we’ve definitely let things go away: Silverstone, Canada-ish – I wouldn’t say completely. Maybe one or two others,” he accepted.
Norris defends wretched start record
McLaren wasn’t alone in committing critical errors, with Norris’ dire record at holding onto the lead on the first lap when lining up on pole position gaining unwanted traction.
However, he has contended that there were certain occasions when wins going amiss at the outset derived from circumstantial misfortune rather than him slipping up.
“The other ones are the ones that people want to believe were bad for different reasons.
“When the starts have been ‘bad’, I’ve generally still been in the top three, four, five of starts, even on those days,” he said.
“If you look at Barcelona, when I had a ‘bad’ start everyone says, the best starter in that race was Max. And I think I was like the third or fourth third best starter on the grid. It’s just I happened to be next to the guy who got the best start.
“The other one I’d say was a bit more unlucky was Budapest, where my initial start was very good, a tiny, tiny bit too much wheelspin and a downgraded upshift, and that kind of cost me that [victory].”
Norris content with 2024 season
Norris sustaining his most productive F1 campaign to date with four wins, eight poles and 13 podiums wasn’t enough to push Verstappen to the wire in the title fight.
But having seen his commitment to McLaren rewarded at long last, the Briton is encouraged that the lessons he learned in 2024 have set him up to go one step better.
“It’s been better than people have thought,” he expressed. “There’s definitely been some missed opportunities. That’s a fact.
“But I’m very happy with my whole season. I still feel like I’ve got a lot out of it. Things have not just gone to plan. There’s been certain races which have gone away from us.
“But I’m pretty happy with the whole season that I had, because it’s clear when things do go right, how amazing that they can be.”
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