Norris sets walk-before-you-run targets for F1 future

Hot on the heels of his new contract with McLaren, Lando Norris has set realistic objectives for the next phase of his Formula 1 career, which involve learning to walk before trying to run.

Norris made his F1 debut in the 2019 Australian Grand Prix and has since gone on to take part in a total of 104 races.

However despite being tipped as a future world champion and finishing as race runner-up on seven occasions to date - six of them in 2023 alone - Norris is yet to secure his much sought-after maiden GP victory.

The 24-year-old British driver says that attaining that career landmark - not just once, but on a regular basis - has to be his primary objective at this stage rather than dreaming about challenging for titles and championships.

"[We had] moments we were close to winning races last year, and a few races we were not miles away from a Red Bull," Norris said this week.

• Read also: Norris signs multi-year extension to McLaren deal

"If you want to win one race, we are the closest we've ever been since I've been here at McLaren and for many, many years," he argued. "If you asked me, 'Do you think you can win races this year?' I'd probably be more inclined to say yes.

"But to go straight into, 'can you win races and a championship?' I think that's another level," he admitted. "It's a different level of pressure and excitement," he continued, speaking both for the team and for himself.

"Racing at the very top is not something I've necessarily done for a while, but also for the whole team, for everyone here in the factory."

When Norris joined the team it was still recovering from its nightmare slump which had seen it finish P9 in the team standings in 2017.

Since then its been back in the top four every year but one, with Norris paired first with Carlos Sainz, then Daniel Ricciardo, and now Oscar Piastri.

Norris was part of a McLaren 1-2 with Ricciardo at Monza in 2021, but last year was his most personally successful season so far - all the more remarkable given a poor start to the season for the MCL60.

If not for the utterly dominant Max Verstappen it seems probable that Norris would already have secured his maiden win. "When you think of it, [the Red Bull] was the most competitive car ever in F1," Norris acknowledged.

"Do I think we're ready to challenge them? Absolutely!" he insisted. "The majority of the time we've executed things extremely well, so when it comes to pressure I think everyone here is in a very good position.

"There's opportunities where we've been fighting against Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, and we've been fighting them and going against them head to head in strategy and pitstops and all of those things."

"As soon as you do mention fighting for a championship I think everyone's mentality just changes that little bit, but I feel I'm ready to go against Max and Lewis and fight against them.

"It just comes down to consistency and small decisions along the way, which are hard to predict when you're going against these guys. You never know what their next move is going to be, and they never know what our next move is."

If this year is about getting used to winning races on a regular basis, then Norris suspects next year is probably still too early to realistically cut the gap to Red Bull when it comes to the season as a whole.

The next big technical rules changes come into effect in 2026 and that's when Norris thinks the big chance will present itself.

"'26 is an opportunity for everyone on the grid, so that's the big, big question mark," he affirmed. "But we'll see how we do this year, and then you can ask me the question again."

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