Lando Norris believes McLaren will "100 per cent" be title contenders next season and predicts plenty more excitement in 2024; Norris became the 21st British driver to win a Formula 1 race after beating Max Verstappen to victory at the Miami Grand Prix
Thursday 9 May 2024 13:08, UK
Lando Norris believes McLaren can win more races in 2024 and will "100 per cent" challenge for the Constructors' Championship next season after securing his long-awaited breakthrough victory.
Norris became the 21st British driver in history to win an F1 race after his impressive success at the Miami GP, ending a run of 110 Grands Prix and a record of 15 podiums without a maiden victory.
The 24-year-old capitalised on a safety-car period before pulling away from Red Bull's Max Verstappen, earning McLaren their first win in almost three years and highlighted further progress in the British team.
Norris sits fourth in the drivers' standings, 53 points adrift of three-time world champion Verstappen - while third-placed McLaren trail the dominant Red Bull by 115 points in the constructors' battle.
When asked if they can contend for the title next season, Norris told Sky Sports F1: "100 per cent. I am saying that still with my feet on the ground. I want to believe that we have two great drivers.
"We have an amazing team behind us and we are closer than ever.
"As much as I said at the beginning of this year that we can win races, I should have the confidence to say next year we can go for the next step."
Norris, who extended his stay in Miami to toast his first win, was back at the McLaren Technology Centre on Thursday to share the success with the wider team. He admits they remain short of Red Bull and Ferrari but is confident of more success this season.
"Absolutely, we can win more races this year," Norris said. "I think we can compete against Red Bull. I think we're looking at an exciting season between us, Red Bull and Ferrari.
"I think we still have work to do and we're not at the level that they are just yet. There's going to be races that we're competitive enough, but on average we're not quite where we want to be.
"I think we still have our feet on the ground. We know we have more work to do, but as soon as they've all had a little drink this morning, I'm going to tell them to get back to work so we can keep fighting even more."
Norris' win in Miami last Sunday was McLaren's first since Australian Daniel Ricciardo led him in a one-two at Monza in 2021, while chief executive Zak Brown is hopeful that it is the first of many over the coming months.
"I don't see why we can't be fighting for wins," Brown told Sky Sports. "It's not going to be easy. Red Bull still have the pace, this was one race and we were really dialled in, but the last two races we've been quicker than Ferrari so we're close.
"We're in the game. It shows Red Bull are beatable and we intend to beat them and anybody else a couple more times this year, so I see no reason why not."
On their title hopes for 2025, Brown added: "Next year will be an evolution of this year's car, but we're only a few tenths away, so I definitely want to stay away from championship predictions.
I like the trajectory we're on. I've always said once you win a race, there's no reason why you cant win multiple races and once you're winning multiple races you're competing for world championships. Our day to be competing for the world championship is not so far away."
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