Lando Norris is considered one of the most talented and promising racers of the championship, that’s just until the McLaren car allows him to show his best. At the same time, the 23-year-old Briton himself already admits that although he feels the strength to fight for victories, apparently he will have to be patient.
Lando will really need it, because his current contract with McLaren runs until 2025 inclusive, and if the team does not show noticeable progress, then there will be less reason for joy than he and his fans would like.
Jenson Button, who at one time also collaborated with the team from Woking, is generally surprised that Norris decided to sign such a long-term contract with her.
“I was surprised when he signed a long-term contract,” said the 2009 world champion. – In our sport, you can’t predict who will be ahead, and you have to be behind the wheel of a car that allows you to fight for victories. Talent alone is not enough to win races.
Of course, you can help the team to fine-tune the car, but if you want to win, you need a competitive one right now. McLaren cannot provide Lando with such a car. This team is doing well, but he has already reached the stage of his career when he needs a really fast car.
Let’s see how the situation will develop in the next two years, but I really hope that teams such as McLaren, Alpine and Aston Martin will catch up to the top three and even be able to challenge them. After all, this was the idea when everyone was moving to limited budgets, and when the top teams decided to cut the time allotted for research in the wind tunnel.
Teams that take first place will be able to spend much less time on such research next year than rivals. I hope we will see the effect of these measures already in 2023, and in 2024 it should become even more pronounced.
But Lando is still young, and he can still compete at a high level for a long time, and he is a very fast rider. Now he has a new partner, Oscar Piastri, who is also very talented. But both will experience strong pressure, especially since Piastri is a debutant and will immediately drive a more or less competitive car.”
