McLaren duo Sainz and Norris tipping Racing Point to be 'best of the rest'
McLaren duo Sainz and Norris tipping Racing Point to be 'best of the rest'
Lando Norris believes Racing Point is now favourite to secure this season’s ‘best of the rest’ spot behind Mercedes and Red Bull unless his McLaren team can start to get to grips with its latest upgrades.
McLaren had a 16-point lead over Racing Point four races ago but that advantage has been overhauled to drop them two points behind to fourth, while a resurgent Renault is just four points adrift in fifth.
Racing Point is third despite both drivers missing races due to Covid-19 and a 15- point penalty for breaching the regulations, leaving Norris to believe more speed is required if they are to stay in the hunt in what has become a tight three-way battle.
“Considering Racing Point are still up there with the difficulties they have had, you’d say they are probably the favourites of all of us,” said Norris. “At the same time, Renault are very fast and we are doing our best job to stay ahead.
“It changes every weekend. I don’t think one is miles better than any other. Some weekends we see Racing Point be extremely fast and in a class above, and not far off the top two teams, then the next weekend we see Renault do very well.
“That’s the reason we are all so close in the championship. We have new parts on the car and we need to figure them out to expose them to the maximum, then we can be more confident in taking the fight back to them.”
McLaren started off the season with Norris on the podium and two double-points finishes, but Sainz then clocked up two 13th places, leaving the Spaniard to suggest a failure to pick up more points early on could cost them.
“When the car was at its strongest at the start of the year, where we could achieve good results and Racing Point didn’t look as strong, I did lose a lot of points there,” said Sainz. “That affected a lot the rest of the year.
“Definitely our competitors have become stronger and it is a lot more challenging now to get six points than it was a few races ago, so we will keep our heads down and try to make the car faster.”
The team has struggled to understand some of the upgrades introduced in recent races, but Sainz added: “The fact the team keeps bringing new parts to the track is a good sign the team is fighting through.
"Like always in F1 there will be some bits that work and others that don’t.
“Here we are now, having discovered which of the parts we think were helping and which were not helping so much and we will try to put together a bit of a compromise on the car and make it as fast as possible.”
Before you go...
"Iconic" Raikkonen still has "fire in his belly" - Brawn
"Unnerving" Red Bull proving to be Albon's downfall
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
F1 manager reveals Piastri 'balance' challenge
- 57 minutes ago
EXCLUSIVE: Hamilton engineer reveals top drivers' key characteristic
- 1 hour ago
Red Bull now pressured into MISTAKES insists F1 rivals as title race heats up
- 2 hours ago
F1 News Today: Vettel CONFIRMS stunning comeback as Red Bull boss issues Verstappen statement
- 3 hours ago
F1 fan celebrates Verstappen failure with OUTRAGEOUS permanent change
- 3 hours ago
Wolff opens up on WHY Mercedes are 'very bad'
- Today 09:55
F1 Race Calendar
-
GP BAHRAIN
29 Feb - 2 Mar
Max Verstappen
-
GP SAUDI ARABIA
7 - 9 Mar
Max Verstappen
-
GP AUSTRALIA
22 - 24 Mar
Carlos Sainz
- GP JAPAN 5 - 7 Apr
- GP CHINA 19 - 21 Apr
- GP USA 3 - 6 May
- GP ITALY 17 - 19 May
- GP MONACO 24 - 26 May
Related news
F1 team boss reveals KEY Piastri turning point
McLaren announce MEGA deal for key F1 star
Norris escapes F1 jump start punishment thanks to bizarre 'loophole'
Hamilton's former F1 team-mate set to undergo heart surgery
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860