Norris addresses fastest car claim after crucial McLaren 'reset'

Lando Norris has again addressed claims McLaren has the fastest package on the F1 grid, with the Briton accepting it was "100%" the best in Zandvoort. 

The McLaren driver secured his second victory of the season in the Dutch Grand Prix, finishing 22.9s ahead of home hero Max Verstappen who had to settle for second. 

It marked the biggest margin of victory this year and saw Red Bull's lead in the constructors' championship reduced to 30 points. 

McLaren has consistently been eating into Red Bull's advantage over recent rounds, leading to claims the Woking-based team has the strongest package. 

Norris and the team have often been reluctant to accept that its car is the quickest, however, the 24-year-old did not shy away from it after winning the Dutch GP. 

"Oh, 100%, yeah," Norris told select media including RacingNews365. "The whole weekend, I think we had the best car. I think we've, on average, had the best car, for sure. 

"We've not had a dominant car at any point this season, I would say. Even if you go back to Hungary, as much as people hate me to say it, Max was still very quick in Hungary. He just didn't have a great race, but his pace was still very, very strong. 

"And obviously we see, we know more information than people do on the outside, so we can comment in much more factual ways than people can who are just watching on TV and taking their picks and guesses."

Norris accepts errors

McLaren introduced its most significant upgrade package since Miami in Zandvoort last weekend, with the MCL38's performance further improving. 

Since Norris' Miami victory, McLaren has been towards the front and challenging Verstappen for victories. 

Norris accepts McLaren should have claimed more wins this season with the package that it has, although he recognises he has been to blame at times. 

To ensure all victory chances are capitalised on, a crucial "reset" was undertaken by Norris and McLaren during the summer break. 

"We've had, on average, the best car," added Norris. "We probably should have won two, three more races as a team, but we didn't. And we're not saying anything more than that.

"We should have won and we didn't, and it's because we've not done a good enough job. I didn't do a good enough job. And we worked hard over the summer break to just try and take a step back and reset and go again.

"So yes, we've had a great car. This was, like I said earlier, our first time we bought some good upgrades to the car since Miami. They worked very well then. They've worked once again now.

"Yeah, it's still a long way to go. So we still have to keep working hard because this is just Zandvoort. Monza is a completely different circuit. So we'll keep our heads down and keep chipping away."