Norris can disrupt Mercedes-Red Bull championship dominance - Seidl

McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl is confident Lando Norris has "a chance" of splitting the Mercedes and Red Bull drivers in the end of season F1 standings.

After three races of the season, Norris is third in the championship behind title contenders Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen but five points ahead of Valtteri Bottas and 15 clear of Sergio Perez.

Along with team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, Norris is one of just five drivers to score points in each of the opening races of the year with a fifth place in Portugal his worst result.

Rating Norris' chances of remaining in his elevated championship position, Seidl said: “There is always a chance but it is simply important that we together with Lando keep delivering weekend by weekend.

"Consistency is king together with performance in order to outscore cars that, let’s say on paper and definitely, in reality, are quicker than us.

“But if we keep delivering upgrades to the car, if Lando together with his team keep doing what they have done so far this first three races, it will end up keeping the pressure up on these guys ahead of us on track."

Although confident McLaren has shown it has the third fastest car on the grid in the early races, a fact backed up by the constructors' table, Seidl conceded Norris will face an uphill task if the championship contenders fail to make errors.

He explained: “There will be opportunities to finish on track ahead of them for sure this year but at the same time you need to be realistic.

"If these guys get their act together each weekend we simply have to acknowledge and accept we are not there yet in terms of performance.”

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