Lando Norris launches fiery McLaren war cry

Lando Norris has issued McLaren an impassioned call to arms as the reigning constructors' champions look to close the performance deficit to its F1 rivals.

Ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, the British driver, who is also defending his first drivers' title this season, estimated that the Woking-based squad was around three months behind the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari in the development fight.

The 11-time grand prix winner believes McLaren needs upwards of five upgrades to be able to contend at the sharp end of the grid.

When those remarks were put to him, and he was asked how the team can catch up, following a quiet drive to seventh at the Austrian Grand Prix, the 26-year-old lightheartedly replied "good question" before addressing the matter more seriously.

"It just takes a little bit of everything, honestly," Norris told media, including RacingNews365. "It just takes a very, very strong team.

"It takes efficiency of performance from the guys and girls back in the factory, working hard to find little bits, being efficient with bringing upgrades to the track more than what we've been doing now, because other teams are bringing more than what we are."

McLaren sits third in the constructors' standings and is already 143 points adrift of Mercedes after eight rounds.

In the drivers' fight, Norris lies fifth, one point behind team-mate Oscar Piastri, who scored a much more productive fourth-place finish at the Red Bull Ring.

Nonetheless, the British driver voiced his belief in McLaren, issuing a battle cry for his colleagues to "do a better job" than their peers.

"Every single individual in McLaren needs to do a better job than every other person in Formula 1, and I believe it's possible," he added.

"I have a very good faith in my team. I think the fact we can be so close when we know that there's so much more potential that we have is still a good sign for the future.

"So, I'm still optimistic. We just need to get it going."