Lando Norris delivers 'feel silly' outlook over McLaren F1 future

Lando Norris has stated it would “feel silly” not to be confident about McLaren’s future prospects following its performance in Miami.

The Woking-based squad endured a subdued start to the campaign and was largely hampered by three non-finishes across the opening two rounds.

However, it showed strong pace throughout the weekend in Miami, with Norris coming out on top in the sprint race.

He followed up that performance with a second-place finish in the grand prix and was joined on the podium by team-mate Oscar Piastri, who finished third.

When asked if the strong weekend has left him feeling more confident over McLaren's future after the result, Norris told media including RacingNews365: “Certainly. 

“I think you’d have to feel silly if you don’t feel confident about the future when we improved so much this weekend. 

“We also know it’s a track that suits us. I’m always that guy that looks at things on the slightly more glass-half-empty side, but this is a track that suits us and in the past has not suited the Mercedes quite so well. 

“Yet they were still very fast, and we’re going to go to a track [in Canada] that Mercedes have probably been the best at over the last five, six years. So, we have to wait and see.”

Despite the renewed confidence, Norris asserted he is avoiding getting too enthusiastic, stating the pecking order can easily change from weekend to weekend.

“I know we’re bringing upgrades, but in Formula 1 it’s too easy to judge things over one race,” he said. 

“You need to see how you are over a number of races and different styles of track: street circuits, hot tracks, cold tracks, tight and twisty, fast circuits. 

“So, there’s no point getting ahead of ourselves. We’ve had a very good weekend, I’m very proud of the team.

“But I also want to make sure they keep pushing and keep trying to improve things, because we still need that.”