Australian Grand Prix
Venue: Albert Park, Melbourne Dates: 14 March-16 March Race begin: 04:00 GMT on Sunday, 16 March with first follow at 01:30 on Friday
Protection: Reside radio commentary of follow and qualifying on BBC 5 Sports activities Additional, race dwell on BBC Radio 5 Reside. Reside textual content updates on the BBC Sport web site and app
Lando Norris acknowledges that McLaren begin the System 1 season as favourites however says the view amongst his rivals is “short-sighted”.
Mercedes driver George Russell and world champion Max Verstappen each imagine McLaren begin the 12 months with a tempo benefit based mostly on the proof of pre-season testing.
Requested if he thought that McLaren had been favourites going into the Australian Grand Prix this weekend, Norris mentioned: “I really feel like we at the moment are. I do know there’s quite a lot of expectation and it is what everybody says.
“I am fairly stunned so many individuals are so short-sighted, particularly folks you would not count on to be, making so many conclusions earlier than you even begin the season.
“Everybody simply desires to play that recreation of wanting just like the underdog and enjoying it down.”
McLaren gained the constructors’ championship in 2024, their first crew title in 26 years, as Norris completed second behind Verstappen within the drivers’ standings.
Norris mentioned that McLaren’s standing as favourites was the consequence of 1 race-distance run he did on the second day of testing final month however insisted that the highest 4 groups can be carefully matched, as they had been final 12 months.
“I really feel like we’re in an analogous enjoying subject to the highest different three groups,” Norris mentioned in Melbourne on Thursday. “I nonetheless assume it is us high 4 however there are lots of issues that different folks did not see (in testing) the place different folks have been extraordinarily robust, together with Pink Bull, together with Mercedes, together with Ferrari.
“I understand how a lot gas and stuff Ferrari had for lots of the testing and you would be stunned at how fast they will be this weekend.
“Folks can speak what they need. We have stored to ourselves, we have stored targeted and we need to be fast. We count on to be up there combating however I do not assume you possibly can assume by the margin that everybody’s saying.”
‘Racing towards Max is a singular state of affairs’
Norris flirted with a title battle with Verstappen final season however finally fell brief. The benefit the Pink Bull driver constructed up in a dominant first 5 races was too massive to shut.
The 25-year-old Briton mentioned: “I realized quite a lot of issues final 12 months. I clearly wasn’t fairly able to ship on all the things that we wanted to ship on from a racing viewpoint.
“That is simply because racing towards Max is a singular state of affairs and you aren’t getting to expertise it in every other lifestyle till you actually get to that time.
“Had it been a battle towards completely different drivers, I do not know if it might have been the identical. It undoubtedly in all probability would not have been as exhausting.
“That is in all probability a good evaluation as a result of I do assume Max would be the hardest man to race towards. He is all the time going to be the one who’s going to be most keen to push the bounds and push the boundaries like he did. So I realized that facet of Max.
“And I realized the place I stood in that state of affairs, which was not on the proper stage. And I realized from these issues. And I believe already into the final couple of races, I improved on quite a lot of these conditions.”
Norris mentioned he believed he was in a greater place this 12 months to combat strongly all season.
“I am simply excited to have one other crack at it and see what I can do and go up towards any driver,” he mentioned.
“I do not assume I am simply going to be racing towards Max this 12 months. I believe it may be Charles [Leclerc], Lewis [Hamilton]. It is going to be Oscar [Piastri, Norris’ McLaren team-mate].
“It is going to be the Pink Bull drivers and the Mercedes drivers too. So, I am wanting ahead to all the battles. And naturally, the extra concerning the others, the extra wars there will be on observe between others, the higher for us.”
Verstappen, who’s aiming to win a fifth consecutive drivers’ title, mentioned he was involved by the tempo McLaren had proven in testing.
“I do know we’re not the quickest in the meanwhile,” the Dutchman, 27, mentioned. “However it’s a very lengthy season, quite a lot of issues can change fairly rapidly.
“We’re fairly pleased with how our check went. It is going to be an fascinating weekend for positive, we predict to be up on the entrance, whether or not that’s proper on the pointy finish we are going to see.”
