F1 News: Lando Norris makes BLEAK admission after Japanese Grand Prix

Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Japan, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

Japanese Grand Prix

Norris makes BLEAK admission after Japanese Grand Prix

British driver dejected after difficult race at Suzuka

Lauren Sneath

Sunday 7 April 2024 13:57

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Lando Norris has confessed that McLaren is going ‘backwards’ as he spoke of the difficult race they endured at the Japanese Grand Prix.

The British driver and his team-mate Oscar Piastri came in P5 and P8 respectively at Suzuka, unable to make an impression on the Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, who led the race, or Ferrari, the team on Red Bull's heels.

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Norris said the fight against faster teams feels like 'fighting a losing battle' as those behind Red Bull race to secure P2 in the championship.

“It was a tough race,” Norris said, adding that the McLaren didn’t have the pace to catch the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

He said: “I think compared to the Ferraris, just, not enough. I think everything kind of fell back in line in terms of Red Bull, Ferrari, us, which is a shame.”

Max Verstappen won the Japanese Grand Prix

He appeared to lament the regression of the team, which last season began far down the grid but climbed up thanks to smart upgrades.

Norris said: “It doesn’t feel great, you know, when you start third and just kind of go backwards.“

He added: “You kind of feel like you’re just fighting a losing battle against these guys, because they can do a lot more.”

Norris: Ferrari is clearly ahead

Asked if the fight between McLaren and Ferrari for second place in the constructors' championship was close, Norris was unequivocal in his response.

“No, no,” he said. “Ferrari is clearly ahead. They’ve been ahead all year, they’re still ahead. We’ve not changed anything. There’s no reason why we should be ahead.”

Carlos Sainz came in third in the Japanese Grand Prix

Meanwhile, his team-mate was similarly dejected. Asked why the race wasn’t more successful for McLaren, Piastri said: “Just struggled a bit with the tyres. I think we just didn’t have the pace of the cars around us.”

He added: “Today showed that we still have some work to do. We’re clearly not quite at the level of Ferrari yet, so we just need to find a little bit more.”