Lando Norris says McLaren has the capacity to beat Aston Martin in the F1 constructors’ championship in the fight for fourth.
At one point, it was looking like Aston Martin will likely end up second to Red Bull in the F1 constructors’ championship after the way they started the 2023 season. But as the year has progressed, they not only dropped behind Mercedes but also Ferrari.
While Mercedes are nicely ahead by 84 points, Ferrari are 64 ahead which seemingly makes it difficult for Aston Martin to close in and pass them with six rounds remaining. Considering how their pace has dipped, it is certainly a challenge for them.
In fact, this drop has allowed McLaren to catch up after their rise up in recent races. They are now just 49 behind with a string of podium finishes against their name. Both Norris and Oscar Piastri are equally performing well against only Fernando Alonso.
For various reasons, Lance Stroll has struggled which is evident by the points gap of 127 between two teammates. This has further helped McLaren and Norris believes that they have every chance to catch Aston Martin and even pass them to take fourth.
“I didn’t think it was that close but yeah, if it’s 49, then I definitely think so,” said Norris. “There’s not many races left. I’m sure there’s going to be a couple where Aston are going to be a bit stronger. But I think our advantage at the minute comparing to almost every team, bar a couple, is we have two drivers who are up there fighting for these positions and fighting for this points.
“And not every team has that at the minute. So I think that’s helping us. We can help one another, we can use one another, and I think that’s a good advantage we have over a lot of other teams at the minute. So we’re on an upward trend. We’re making good progress and days like we have had in recent times prove exactly that.
“Even though I know there’s going to be maybe some tougher races coming up at times and maybe not as straightforward but the progress we’ve made this season has been pretty incredible from my eyes and from where we were, to finishing 18 seconds behind the lead or 19 seconds is I think evidence of exactly that. So I’m proud of everyone and we’ll keep pushing,” summed up Norris.
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