Lando Norris strikes 'Ferrari embarrassment' claim as F1 fear named

Lando Norris believes Ferrari could "embarrass everyone" in F1, if the Scuderia can add more engine power to its package.

Ferrari ended Mercedes' winning run to start the season in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton finally claimed a first grand prix win for the Scuderia, on a weekend the team delivered a raft of upgrades, which all worked and allowed Hamilton to also take his first front-row start of the year, just 0.064s behind pole-sitter George Russell.

Across the first seven races, whilst it is clear that the Ferrari SF-26 is a quick car through the corners, it does lack top-end straight-line speed, in part thanks to a smaller turbo. 

However, it is expected that the Scuderia will receive two upgrades in the FIA's soon-to-be-announced ADUO process, allowing it to work on the engine and deliver performance-enhancing upgrades.

McLaren driver Norris, who finished 23.7s behind Hamilton in third place in Barcelona, fears that F1 is "lucky" Ferrari's engine is a little behind and worries what could happen when the "class of the field" cornering performance is married to a stronger power unit.

"We're lucky that Ferrari doesn't have a better engine at the minute," Norris explained to Sky Sports F1. 

"If they had a better engine, they'd be dominating. They're the class of the field in terms of cornering performance at the minute.

"We're not even close to them. It's the realistic point of it. We're a long, long way from where we need to be.

"If they make improvements on the engine side, then they'll embarrass everyone. 

"We need to really get our heads down and see what improvements we can do."