Lando Norris snagged his second consecutive win, dominating the Dutch Grand Prix after a Hungary victory last month, but the man himself is throwing cold water on any championship hype. Despite the back-to-back victories to open the second half of the Formula 1 season, Norris is declaring McLaren “don’t have the car I need to fight for a championship.” This guy is not sugarcoating anything, even after a masterful win in Zandvoort that moved him to fourth in the drivers’ standings, 83 points off leader Kimi Antonelli.
Two Wins, One Big Question Mark
Norris’s victory in Zandvoort, following his first win of the season in Hungary, was pure class. It even brings back memories of Max Verstappen’s insane fightback against Norris himself last year. Think about it: after this same race last year, Norris’s team-mate Oscar Piastri had a 34-point lead over Norris, and a whopping 104 points over Verstappen. Yet, Verstappen pulled off one of the all-time great comebacks, finishing the season only two points behind Norris to win the title. Norris’s own revival in the second half of last season was almost as good. He’s clearly driving at an incredibly high level, building on progress from a tricky 2025 start, and he believes he’s operating on an even higher plane this year. The gaps between teammates are bigger this year, and Norris thinks it’s a trickier car to drive. So what’s the hangup with all this winning?
The Ugly Truth About McLaren’s Pace
McLaren has made some serious moves forward with car upgrades, leading to those convincing wins in Hungary and the Netherlands. Norris himself admits, “We clearly have a strong car… in certain areas.” He’s confident in that. The team is “very, very strong in high speed,” in fact, “no one matches us in high speed,” which is a huge step up. Norris saw a “crazy” pace advantage over Mercedes in Turn Seven and Eight at Zandvoort. But here’s the kicker: that advantage gets wiped out. “Their advantage that they have to us in slow speed is also crazy,” Norris said. That’s why, even after two poles and two wins in a row, he doesn’t have the confidence to say he can “easily fight for a championship for the rest of the season.” He knows it’s a “big comment,” but it’s based on reality. The car still has too many flaws to consistently challenge like Verstappen did last year. Those slow-speed issues are going to be a real handicap at the next race in Monza, and then again in Azerbaijan, both tracks with long straights and few high-speed corners. McLaren’s high drag will definitely be penalized there.
This next race in Monza is massive for the team. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella put it simply: “If we can confirm our improvements in Monza, then we can look with some optimism at the remainder of the season.” All eyes on the next track to see if McLaren can iron out those wrinkles and give Norris the car he needs for a true title fight.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by BBC Sport.
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