Norris thinks McLaren could be in the title fight in 2024

McLaren is obviously the closest rival of Red Bull in this year’s Formula 1 season. The British team is still far behind the world champions, but got a good gap ahead of Mercedes and Ferrari. The upgrades to their MCL60 since Austria proved to be the right move that pushed them to a very successful second part of the season.

Norris has taken five podiums across the past six races, with two for rookie team-mate Oscar Piastri, as McLaren is reaping the rewards of a technical restructure under team boss Andrea Stella. The consistency raised expectations for McLaren and many people think Norris could take the fight with Verstappen in 2024.

“Maybe. I’ve just been saying to Max, since we bought this upgrade to Austria, I’ve been the second highest scoring driver on the grid. I think we’ve been the second highest scoring team, potentially. Of course, we’ve taken some massive steps forward and at the same time, considering we’re talking about fighting the Red Bull, I think it’s still a very, very good thing what we’ve achieved this year.

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Norris after his 1st F1 victory: ‘About time huh’

“We’re talking about one of the best drivers in Formula 1 ever, in one of the most dominating cars. For us to go from where we were in Bahrain to getting close and talking about fighting a Red Bull, I think are very good signs for us. We know we still have plenty more things to come next year, so I’m excited.

“There’s no point thinking of it until next year but I’ll be optimistic and I believe we can do it as a team.”