Lando Norris claims no one except Max Verstappen is at McLaren’s level

Lando Norris has done extremely well in the MCL60 in the recent F1 races.

Lando Norris claims no one except Max Verstappen is at McLaren’s level

Lando Norris and Max Verstappen (Via IMAGO)

Max Verstappen, the reigning F1 world champion, has been in tremendous form during the 2023 F1 season. While some of the other teams have just very recently started catching up to Red Bull, McLaren’s Lando Norris has claimed that no one is at his team’s level except Verstappen.

Lando Norris secured pole position for yesterday’s Sprint race, but as the lights went out, he was overtaken by an aggressive Max Verstappen. After that, Norris could not pose a challenge and, despite all his best efforts, was only able to come away with a second-place finish.

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After the event, Norris was left immensely impressed with the Dutchman, and while talking about him, he told Motorsport:

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Beyond Max, there is no one at our level, so I'm not worried about tomorrow. Of the two, today's race encouraged me a lot. But we're not fighting with Max; we don't have to fight with one of the riders and one of the best cars in history. In fact, I didn't expect to be so strong today, so it was a positive surprise for us. Tomorrow I'll try again, but I'll have to do a few more overtakings.

Looking at the comments of the prolific Brit, it is quite clear that, barring Max Verstappen, he is not worried about the rest of the grid.

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Lando Norris is starting the Brazilian GP from P6

While Lando Norris has made it known that Max Verstappen is the only hurdle McLaren has left to cross, he has got a stiff challenge from the other drivers during the 71-lap Brazilian GP. He is starting his race from P6 and has got Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz starting in close vicinity of him.

Lando Norris (Credits: Planet F1)
Lando Norris (Credits: Planet F1)

Moreover, to the surprise of many in the F1 paddock, the two Aston Martins have also done well so far at Interlagos, and getting ahead of them will not be like a walk in the park for Norris. Lance Stroll and especially Fernando Alonso will get their elbows out when Norris tries to overtake them.

McLaren’s MCL60 has worked stupendously well since the start of the second leg of the 2023 F1 season but is yet to score a race win. Considering what Lando Norris has said recently, it is going to be fascinating to see how he will perform during the upcoming Brazilian Grand Prix.

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