The Woking outfit ended the 2023 season with momentum on its aspect, however to date Ferrari has led the pursuit of pacesetters Pink Bull.
Nonetheless, Norris, who logged McLaren‘s first podium of the season with third place in Australia, is inspired by the truth that there may be nonetheless extra to come back from the automobile.
“On the entire, I am very completely satisfied,” he stated when summing up the 12 months thus far. “Can I be happier? Sure. Can all of us? Sure, as a result of we all the time need extra, we all the time need to have the ability to compete a bit larger.
“However I feel for us to start out the season in such a strong place, understanding that we are able to nonetheless enhance on so many areas, it is a smile on my face, as a result of we’re in a great place, and we all know we are able to get quite a bit higher nonetheless.
“When you assume again to 12 months in the past, it was nonetheless a really, very completely different scenario to be in. We have out-developed our opponents since this time final 12 months by an enormous step. It will get more durable and more durable to try this the nearer you get to the highest, however nonetheless loads of issues for us to do.
“So I am pleased with the step we made as a workforce. And I am very completely satisfied on the work ethic and the hassle everybody’s placing into attempting to proceed.”
Norris says it was no shock that Pink Bull maintained its successful kind in 2024, provided that the Milton Keynes workforce might make an early change of its improvement focus to RB20.
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24, Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38, Sergio Perez, Pink Bull Racing RB20, the rest of the sphere on the opening lap
Picture by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Pictures
“The hole to Pink Bull is totally anticipated,” he stated. “When you have a look at after they stopped growing final 12 months, they put a number of effort and time into attempting to develop a great automobile for this 12 months. So for us to be nonetheless as shut as we’re to them, I feel it is a good signal.
“You’d most likely say probably the most spectacular has been Ferrari, in how they have been capable of take a really huge step, I might say, most likely one of many largest steps from final 12 months to this 12 months. However for us to nonetheless be not far behind I feel it is a fully good signal for us.
“In fact, we all the time hope for that little bit extra, and we hoped to only come out and have the ability to combat right away on the entrance, however we took a step and we weren’t capable of possibly deal with a couple of of issues that we actually have struggled to deal with in the previous couple of years. However now greater than ever we’re attempting to deal with these areas.”
Norris identified that McLaren wasn’t all the time the strongest rival to Pink Bull within the latter a part of final season, and thus it could be fallacious to recommend that it has now been leap-frogged by Ferrari.
“There’s nonetheless loads of races on the finish of final 12 months that we weren’t even near being the second quickest workforce,” he stated. “In Abu Dhabi, we weren’t even near being second quickest workforce, or third quickest workforce, and even fourth.
“So I might by no means say yeah, we have been the second quickest, and now Ferrari have jumped us or something like this.
“I wish to consider that we possibly have a barely higher all-round bundle, however I do not assume we have visited some tracks but the place we have seen as many weaknesses, like Zandvoort, for instance – not wanting ahead to it! And a few tracks that basically present the place the automobile is weak.”
