Lando Norris says McLaren has a real chance of overhauling Ferrari in F1's pecking order this season, and achieving that outlook would represent a significant step forward for the papaya squad.
McLaren is currently third in the constructors' standings following the opening three races of the 2020 season, outscoring Ferrari, which lingers down in fifth position, by 14 points.
The Scuderia's issues have been well chronicled, and with the troubles impacting its 2020 car buried deep within its SF1000, meaningful progress will likely be hard to come by.
"We have an opportunity to beat Ferrari. We have an opportunity to fight them throughout the season," Norris told the media ahead of this week's British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
"I think it would mean a lot to us as a team to take the next step and beat a team that’s been front-running for a few years, for many years, to show the progress we have made.
"It would give us a bit more of that drive to continue on and beat them into the future."
Ferrari could be in for a long period of stagnation, with development limited by F1's regulation freeze and restrictive two-token system.
McLaren on the other hand still has a margin of evolution, if the updates set to be implemented on its MCL35 in the coming races prove efficient, a key requirement obviously.
"We still have our upgrade to come. Ferrari seem to be in a difficult position at the moment with what they are trying to do and achieve," added Norris.
"They had their big upgrades, or a lot of them, for Budapest so it is looking more hopeful than we were expecting because they are performing nowhere near what we are used to."
Demoting Ferrari from F1's top-three teams would naturally spur on the McLaren team, but would it entice Norris to step up his witty banter with Ferrari-bound teammate Carlos Sainz?
"There have been jokes made, but nothing which is rubbing it in," said Norris.
"I know how karma works and how easily things can go the opposite way.
"I think we’re going to go to some races this season where Ferrari will beat us quite easily and Carlos will be the one saying ‘Look who’s laughing now’.
"I know that Formula 1 can change, and they will probably do a very good job to return back to their normal ways of being very competitive."
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