Lando Norris and McLaren have been on a roll recently. Over the last 2 races, Norris has scored 2 podiums, with both being in second place. His teammate, Oscar Piastri, has been able to finish just a couple of positions outside the podium. But this is not enough for the team. They have higher goals.
When the season started in March 2023, McLaren was nowhere near the front of the field. In fact, they were among the slowest cars on the field. Red Bull was easily the dominant team, with Ferrari, Mercedes, and Aston Martin fighting for 2nd. Now, however, McLaren has turned things around.
View this post on Instagram
Before the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix, McLaren decided to install an upgrade on Lando’s car, while Oscar Piastri would get the same upgrade on the next weekend. During the Austrian Grand Prix, Lando Norris seemed a lot more competitive than they were before. Lando finished P4 in the race, only behind the Red Bulls and Charles Leclerc. Lando was able to finish in front of both Mercedes and Aston Martins.
A week later, the same upgrades were installed in Oscar Piastri’s car. The upgrades worked even better in Silverstone, giving Lando Norris his first podium finish of the season, while Oscar Piastri finished P4. Hungary had a similar result with Lando once again finishing P2 and Oscar in P5.
Can Lando Norris and McLaren win a Grand Prix in 2023?
After finishing in second place in the Hungarian Grand Prix, Lando Norris said:
“If Max retires, or something, then maybe. At the minute, the guys are too quick – unless they make mistakes or something happens. But at the moment, I think we’re very happy with the progress we’ve made. To go from where we were four, five races ago, struggling to get out of Q1 sometimes, to fighting for poles, and fighting for podiums. We’ll take it for now, and our time will come later on in the year.”
View this post on Instagram
While Lando Norris is happy that the team has made such progress, he doesn’t seem completely satisfied yet. He still hopes to get that first victory with McLaren. However, he realizes that Max Verstappen and Red Bull are currently too fast for them to catch under normal circumstances.
View this post on Instagram
Max Verstappen finished 33 seconds ahead of Lando Norris in the Hungarian Grand Prix. The win in Budapest recorded Verstappen’s 7th win in a row. Red Bull also broke a record for most wins in a row. The win at the Hungarian Grand Prix marked Red Bull’s 12th win in a row, beating the record set by McLaren in 1988.
Lando Norris and McLaren are hoping to put a stop to Red Bull and Max Verstappen’s domination by winning a Grand Prix this year. Let us see if McLaren and Lando can make further developments in the car to challenge Red Bull.