Norris in surprise McLaren MCL40 claim after Dutch GP

Lando Norris claims that the McLaren MCL40 is “still just horrible to drive,” but he is increasingly improving at finding ways around this, and relaying information to McLaren.

Norris believes that he is “doing a better job than everyone” after claiming back-to-back wins in the upgraded McLaren challenger. It is a car which, as has been proven, can beat the Mercedes W17, though Norris still has Mercedes’ creation as the “better all-round performing car” compared to the McLaren MCL40.

Lando Norris gives himself credit ‘for once’

Norris has emerged as arguably the most prominent threat to Mercedes in the Drivers’ Championship fight.

The reigning world champion is still 83 points behind P1 Kimi Antonelli, but Norris has alerted the Silver Arrows with back-to-back wins at the Hungarian and Dutch GPs.

Following his victory at Zandvoort, Norris was asked whether he believes that he is driving at a higher level now than ever before.

“I was driving at a high level the second half of last year,” he said.

“It’s tough to say, but I do think it’s a trickier car to drive this year in some ways. And I think you can see that because the gaps between teammates are often bigger this year, I would say, than it was last year.

“I do believe I’m able to understand situations better, to understand the car in a better way. It’s still just horrible to drive, but I’m doing a better job at just understanding this, relaying this to my team, figuring stuff out.

“So, it’s not just I’m driving better on track. I’m certainly eliminating my weaknesses on track, and I don’t have so many, but it’s also how I work off the track.

“For me, yesterday to today is a perfect example of the work we put in overnight transformed our race and gave me the opportunity to win. So, the work we put in away from the track is certainly a huge part of that.”

According to Antonelli, Mercedes is “clearly not the fastest car anymore,” as he gave a nod to the “huge step” taken by McLaren.

Antonelli’s Mercedes teammate George Russell, who sits second in the standings, is also well aware of the McLaren threat.

“They’re not going to say themselves are the team to beat, if they just got beaten today,” Norris reasoned, adding “I don’t think it’s true” to that notion that McLaren is now the team to beat.

More on Lando Norris and McLaren from PlanetF1.com

McLaren strategy genius as Lando Norris Dutch GP telemetry data emerges

McLaren reveals ‘double intent’ as FIA hearing held over Monaco GP controversy

“I think if I didn’t get Kimi when I overtook him, I don’t think I would have won the race today,” Norris continued.

“But I also know how good of a job I’m doing behind the wheel. And of course, I’m never one to over-talk about myself, normally always the complete opposite. But for once, I would give myself a little bit of credit, that I feel like I’m doing a better job than everyone, and I think that can also make a difference.

“We certainly have a car now capable of beating them. Even, like, we look at yesterday and in qualifying, but we didn’t win yesterday and we didn’t really change much. But I worked a lot on my driving, I want to believe more than everyone else again, and we turned things around today.

“So we certainly have a very similar car, I would say, all in all, to Mercedes, but I think they have a better all-round performing car than what we do. We are more specific in high speed. Turn 7 and Turn 8 were just our biggest two corners where I would gain time today.

“But, if I make one mistake in qualifying yesterday I’m P3, P4, P5, I’m not going to win, and then no one’s going to be saying these things. So the fact I’m just doing a good job is, I think, why people are saying it.”

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!

Read next: Mercedes ‘haven’t got the money’ to react to rival upgrade push