P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Lando Norris asserts that the potential of McLaren’s 2024 Formula 1 car should not be assessed on how it fares
In recent years, McLaren has started seasons slowly, facing difficulties during the early stages, like last term when they struggled to advance from Q1 eliminations. Despite a strong finish in 2023 as Red Bull’s main rival, McLaren’s driver Lando Norris expressed caution about immediate podium contention due to competition from Red Bull and Ferrari. Norris highlighted the team’s inconsistency and the challenge in predicting their position against other teams until they hit the track on race weekend. McLaren has historically faced challenges at Bahrain, failing to score points in the last two visits, but Norris believes it’s premature to judge their performance based solely on this track early in the season. McLaren boss Andrea Stella and Norris have both acknowledged areas of development where the team still lags behind rivals, particularly in slow-speed performance, despite overall progress with the MCL38 car design. Norris remains hopeful that McLaren can show strong performance at tracks where they excelled last season, emphasizing the need for patience and multiple race evaluations before drawing conclusions on their overall competitiveness for the season ahead.
