Norris: McLaren turnaround the 'biggest in the last 10 years'

Lando Norris believes that McLaren's turnaround in form this year was the biggest seen in Formula 1 over the last decade.

The Woking-based squad commenced the campaign competing off the pace and was subjected to running towards the rear of the field.

However, successful development throughout the term saw it rise up the pecking order and compete for podium results, ending the year with nine top-three finishes.

Norris commended McLaren's efforts as he highlighted that the current regulations in place make it harder than ever to catch up from a difficult position.

“I'm so emotionally proud of the whole team, that they did such a big turnaround,” Norris told media including RacingNews365.com.

“It was one of the biggest turnarounds in probably the last 10 years, in a period of time when it's more difficult than ever to turn the car around because of wind tunnel time and costs and all of these things.

“The beginning was tough because I thought it was going to be for a whole year. We didn't know how much we were going to improve, especially at the very beginning.

“We said 'We'll be a bit patient and we know we've got some decent things coming'. But in the past few years, when you've had decent things come in, they've not always stood up to be that much of an improvement.

“This year was quite the opposite and turned out to be almost a bigger improvement than we were expecting.

“But it was tough because you never want to start the season thinking, ‘Wow, 24 races to go and I can't even get out of Q1.’”

Gains for 2024

McLaren leapt up the pecking order as the season progressed and ended the year fourth in the Constructors' Championship.

Having concluded the season in strong form, Norris is looking to further gains for next year's campaign.

“For us to do that, [it was] against Mercedes who dominated Formula 1 a few years ago, against Ferrari who have always been one of the best teams and to catch up to Red Bull who have had the most dominant car-team combo almost ever in Formula 1,” he said.

“For us to be at some races to close beating them I think is quite impressive. And a great achievement for everyone in the team.

“I’m proud and I'm very happy because I think we didn't expect it to be so good.

“We know we can definitely get more out of it once you have a bit of a winter, so very, very happy with everyone.”