Confidence is back in full force at McLaren – but if you expect Lando Norris to start making bold title predictions just yet, think again.
Fresh off what he openly described as the team’s strongest weekend of the season in Miami, the reigning world champion struck a tone that was equal parts fired-up and firmly grounded.
Yes, the pace is real. Yes, the upgrades are working. But with Montreal looming, Norris is making one thing clear: the real test is still to come.
Miami spark reignites belief
There’s no denying McLaren’s strength in Florida. A dominant Sprint performance – pole and victory for Norris, backed up by Oscar Piastri in second – signaled a team rediscovering its bite.
Even if Sunday didn’t deliver the same fairy-tale ending, with Kimi Antonelli once again spoiling the party, the message was loud: McLaren is back in the fight. And Norris knows it.
“Certainly. I think you’d have to feel silly if you don’t feel confident about the future when we improved so much this weekend,” he told reporters in Miami.
But just as quickly as the optimism rises, Norris reins it in – with a reminder that Miami might have flattered more than it revealed.
“We also know it’s a track that suits us. I’m always that guy that looks at things on the slightly more glass-half-empty side, but this is a track that suits us and in the past has not suited the Mercedes quite so well,” he added.
“Yet they were still very fast, and we’re going to go to a track [in Canada] that Mercedes have probably been the best at over the last five, six years. So, we have to wait and see.”
“No point getting ahead of ourselves”
That “wait-and-see” warning isn’t just lip service – it’s a mindset. Norris is refusing to let one standout weekend rewrite the entire narrative of McLaren’s season.
Because in modern Formula 1, momentum can vanish as quickly as it appears.
“I know we’re bringing upgrades, but in Formula 1 it’s too easy to judge things over one race,” he said.
“You need to see how you are over a number of races and different styles of track: street circuits, hot tracks, cold tracks, tight and twisty, fast circuits.
“So, there’s no point getting ahead of ourselves. We’ve had a very good weekend, I’m very proud of the team.
“But I also want to make sure they keep pushing and keep trying to improve things, because we still need that.”
It’s a clear message to the paddock – and perhaps to his own garage as well: progress is real, but it’s not permission to relax.
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Now all eyes turn to Canada, a circuit that has historically played to Mercedes’ strengths. If Miami was a spark, Montreal could either fuel the fire – or expose the limits of McLaren’s resurgence.
For Norris, that uncertainty is exactly the point.
Confidence is building. Expectations are rising. But until McLaren proves it can deliver across every type of circuit, the champagne stays on ice.
Because in Norris’ world, belief is earned over time – not declared after one weekend.
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