Norris, McLaren, podium, Silverstone, 2023 — Photo: © LAT Images

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Norris admits McLaren 'MISTAKES' have led to missed opportunities

The team have made huge strides this season

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 9 September 2023 17:57

Lando Norris believes that his McLaren team are 'getting closer' to challenging Red Bull for race victories.

The young Englishman has never won a race in his Formula 1 career to date, but has achieved eight podiums since his debut in 2019.

His McLaren team were underperforming in the first part of 2023, but have managed to turn it around and now sit fifth in the constructors' championship.

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In fact, they had only scored 17 points in the first eight races of the season, but have since gone on to score a further 98 points from the next six races thanks in-part to a raft of updates to the car, and some exceptional performances from both Norris and his team-mate Oscar Piastri.

In Norris and Piastri, they have arguably the two most talented young drivers on the grid, and both have been tipped to become world champions one day.

At the moment, neither have even won a race, and McLaren know they will have to produce a car that's capable of challenging for race wins quickly if they are to keep their two star drivers at the team.

Now, Norris has told the official McLaren website that he's happy with the progress the team is making.

“We would've been happy with half the step we've done", he said. "To make as big of a step as we have, which I would say is one of the biggest steps taken by any team in the middle of the season, has impressed me the most.

“We want to continue with the improvements that we’ve made so far, maximise our opportunities and make a couple fewer mistakes from both my side and the team’s. Sometimes, we have maybe made a couple of mistakes, just a little bit, so it is about ironing them out and having some more perfect weekends.

Hope of future race wins on the horizon for McLaren

Ricciardo and Norris achieved a 1-2 finish with the team at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix

Despite the progress they've made, they are still nowhere near the performance of the Red Bull team (like every other team this season), and will need some more giant steps over the winter to get that little bit closer to them.

However, like they were at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix when Daniel Ricciardo led home a McLaren one-two after Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen had crashed out of the race, McLaren hope to be the team who are there to take wins when others underperform or suffer reliability issues, before looking to launch themselves as world championship contenders once the new engine regulations come into play in 2026.

That particular win is their only win since 2012, and this is a record that they seriously need to improve upon to keep both Norris and Piastri happy at the team until those new regulations come in, which are likely to shake up the grid order a little bit.

“I would say we're also the closest we've been ever over the last five years. So, if there's any time to believe we're getting closer to winning races, it's now," Norris continued.