Norris reveals key challenge facing McLaren at Suzuka

Lando Norris has detailed that Ferrari’s step forward this season will threaten McLaren’s hope of returning to the podium at the Japanese Grand Prix.

McLaren scored a double-podium at Suzuka last season with Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri crossing the line in second and third place respectively.

Last year’s Japanese Grand Prix took place in last September, however the 2024 event has shifted forward to early April.

Norris opened his podium tally for this current campaign last time out in Australia by taking third place behind a Ferrari 1-2, led by former team-mate Carlos Sainz.

When asked if he expects to take another step forward in Suzuka, Norris told media including RacingNews365: “Not really.

“I think if you look back to here [Australia] last year we were not terrible considering the car that we had.

“We’ve now come back with a good car and we've shown what we can do but I think this was always going to be a good weekend for us.”

Norris sees renewed Ferrari challenge

While Norris is expecting another strong event for McLaren in Japan, the Briton highlighted that it has to deal with the added challenge of usurping Ferrari’s strong form.

“I think they're kind of similar,” Norris said, comparing Albert Park and Suzuka. “You’ve got a lot of high speed.

“The problem is Ferrari has improved their high speed a lot and that's where they were struggling last year.

“So that's why they've been able to take such a good step forward.

“I think we can still have a good weekend. We can still look forward to it. And I would love to say that if we can get two cars on a podium again, it would be a lovely weekend.

“But I think we have two more cars this year that we're competing against on these types of circuits, not just Max.”