Lando Norris backs McLaren title charge despite double DNS in China

Lando Norris is backing McLaren to turn its troubled start into a title-winning charge, insisting the team can still build the fastest car on the grid.

Although McLaren won both titles last season when Norris held off Max Verstappen in a tense run to the line, the Woking team’s title defence is off to a rocky start.

Lando Norris backs McLaren title fight

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McLaren won the titles in the final year of F1’s ground-effect aerodynamic era, with the sport changing to overbody aerodynamics for this year’s new cars, which include movable front and rear wings.

The biggest change, though, has been to the engine formula. Formula 1’s new power units run on a 50/50 split between electrical and combustion power, not only a challenge for the drivers on the track, but reliability has also been an issue.

McLaren suffered a double DNS at the Chinese Grand Prix, where the team noticed an electrical problem on Norris’ car when his mechanics went to fire it up, only for Oscar Piastri’s MCL40 to also suffer an electrical issue just before the formation lap.

The two issues were unrelated, though Norris did not divulge the exact problem or cause.

“Alongside HPP,” he said in the build-up to the Japanese Grand Prix when asked if the problem was fully understood, “I think it took a little bit of time to figure things out, but yes.

“Of course, it hurt us as a team, certainly didn’t make us look good to have two cars not starting a race. I think what hurt more is the fact it was out of our control.

“But with HPP we’ve worked hard to figure things out, to understand how it happened, why it happened, and of course we’ll do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“But you live and you learn. It was a tough one for all of us.”

The double DNS, coupled with Piastri’s Australian Grand Prix formation lap crash, meant McLaren has scored just 18 points out of a total of 76.

Norris is sixth in the Drivers’ standings on 15 points, 36 behind championship leader George Russell, while Piastri has just three on the board with his P6 in the Sprint in China.

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McLaren, though, is by no means out of the fight for the titles, insists Norris.

“I can’t remember how many points we were behind in 2024 from Mercedes and Red Bull, Ferrari,” he said. “but I think it was over 150 points or something behind, and we still managed to come back and win the constructors.

“I don’t know how far we are behind now, it’s already quite a bit.

“But I think we’re not necessarily thinking of that just yet. We are thinking of is getting on the podium first of all, and then just returning to winning races.

“The points then take care of themselves. We’ll see what we can claw back.

“But we are confident in that, I want to say. I think we’re confident as a team, and we believe in us.

“We’ve won the last two championships, and we won the Drivers’ last year because we could build the best car on the grid, and I’m confident we can get back to doing that this year.

“Just takes time, you have to be patient. But I have a good belief in the team, and I think we can have the best car this year.”

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