McLaren has taken the first step towards changing the guard in Formula 1 and is now leading the team standings. The team boss hopes that Lando Norris’ race for the drivers’ title will be boring.
Formula 1 catching-up driver Lando Norris was in a deep emotional turmoil after his turbulent day at work in Baku. Despite all the joy he felt about his first lead in the team standings in ten years and his irresistible storm through half the field almost to the podium, the McLaren driver also mourned a missed opportunity in the title race with Max Verstappen. “It’s disappointing, especially with such a good car today. I’m the type of person who thinks about what could have been,” admitted the 24-year-old.
That’s how it is these days with McLaren and Norris. Freed from the grip of the Red Bull team, which suffered another blow in Azerbaijan, the traditional British team is aiming for the stars.
Oscar Piastri’s second win of the season took McLaren to the top of the constructors’ championship, but also showed his teammate Norris what was possible this weekend in Azerbaijan. If the World Championship runner-up had not messed up qualifying, he could be even closer to defending champion Verstappen ahead of the final seven races of the season.
Will McLaren achieve the perfect end to the season?
“The gap is still decent,” said the championship leader. Verstappen takes a 59-point lead into the night race in Singapore on Sunday (2 p.m./Sky). “They have to have a perfect end to the season,” the Dutchman calculated.
But why shouldn’t McLaren succeed? “We’ve done an incredible job catching Red Bull. To outperform them, to be faster and now to be the top team in Formula 1 is something we should be very proud of,” said Norris, who forms what is probably the strongest driver duo in Formula 1 with Australian Piastri.
Amazing resurrection
McLaren had to climb through deep valleys to get back to the top of the racing series. With engine partners Honda and Renault, the once so successful team sank into the midfield. The outbursts of anger from former world champion Fernando Alonso, who despaired of the car during his second McLaren appearance, are already legendary. At the beginning of last year, hardly anyone would have expected this resurrection of the racing team.
McLaren now leads the team standings with a 20-point lead over Red Bull. “I always say we don’t look at it. But I just want to look at it for a second. At the start of the 2023 season we were still last,” said team boss Andrea Stella. In the second year under the leadership of the Italian, who replaced the German Andreas Seidl, McLaren’s performance curve continues to point steeply upwards.
And Stella is pushing his team forward and wants to dominate in the Red Bull style in the future. “The car is still not fast enough to make for a few boring races. That’s not in the interest of Formula 1, but that’s how we want to race,” said the 53-year-old.
Verstappen’s frustration with Red Bull: Like a go-kart
At Red Bull, motorsports consultant Helmut Marko has almost written off the team title at the end of an almost disastrous summer. “To be honest, yes. In Singapore, things will get much worse,” the Austrian said on the Sky microphone, predicting that things would only improve in the Grand Prix after next in Austin, Texas.
World champion Verstappen complained that his company car felt like a go-kart after the next bumpy performance and fifth place. The 26-year-old last experienced seven World Championship races in a row without a win in 2020. But Verstappen’s fighting spirit in the race for his fourth driver’s title in a row is intact. “This party is not over yet,” he called out to the celebrating McLaren rivals before leaving Baku.
Source: Stern
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