McLaren had superior pace before Verstappen’s damage in Miami – Norris

Max Verstappen’s car damage wasn’t the reason McLaren were quicker than Red Bull in Miami, says Lando Norris.

Red Bull revealed after the race Verstappen damaged the floor of his car when he went off the track at the chicane and hit a bollard.

Norris took advantage of a Safety Car appearance later in the race to take the lead and win. He pulled seven seconds clear of Verstappen over the final laps, but says his McLaren already showed its pace was superior.

“We had an upgrade there and it definitely helped us,” said Norris. “We seemed good there, even if we had no upgrade, I think we still would have been decent, but maybe not quite as quick.

“I know Max had damage and all of this, and people like to use that, but even before he had damage, we were still quicker than him by a fairly big chunk.”

Norris spent the early portion of the race stuck behind Verstappen’s team mate Sergio Perez. Once the second Red Bull pitted on lap 17 Norris was able to lap more quickly and got closer to Verstappen’s pace.

The McLaren driver said he could have taken pole position for the first of the weekend’s races. He set the quickest time of qualifying in the second round but couldn’t repeat the time in Q3.

“We were there because we had good pace,” said Norris. “I feel like we should have been on pole at least on Friday afternoon, maybe not Saturday. I think that’s where we deserve to be.”

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Now McLaren have closed the gap to the leading teams, Norris is eager to gain more experience of racing at the front.

“We’re getting closer. I know as soon as we can attack some of these issues that we have, like I know we can, it’s as simple as that.

“We’re close. Sometimes we’re one or two tenths off. And as much as that is, that’s a little bit in two or three corners on the circuit and we’re there, we can be on pole and we can challenge for a race win.

“As much as some people might doubt it, we’re close, but we know that other people are improving and that kind of thing. It’s not an easy task to keep going at it. With the progress we’re making, with the developments that we’ve had, there’s no reason to say no [we can’t win].

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

“But I do know it’s a whole other task to do it consistently, to do it every weekend, and when you are there, to deliver under pressure every time in qualifying and races.

“To battle for these positions more than what I have done, that’s still something I look forward to, racing against Max a bit more and racing against the Ferraris a bit more and that kind of thing, which is something we’ve not done, I’ve not done a huge amount over the last few years.

McLaren’s Miami upgrade is the third major development step the team has brought during the last 12 months. Norris says the team is making progress at a faster rate than anyone else.

“I’m not overconfident, I’m not under-confident, I feel like I’m at a good balance of accepting where we are. I still think we’re the third-best team at the minute, but that could change if we have another good weekend here.

“I’m confident with how the team are doing with our rate of development, which is better than any other team on the grid, that by next year we can challenge a lot more often for wins. In the big picture, hopefully, a challenge for a title.”

However he believes they still need to extract more from their car in order to consistently challenge at the front.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

“At the minute, I think we’re still too far behind,” he said. “In Miami we definitely weren’t expecting to be as good as we were, and that was a nice surprise. China, a similar thing. So that’s hopefully something we can continue, that we can be better than we expect at certain races.

“But we’re not a mile away. We’re talking one or two tenths a lap at this point between being ahead in qualifying and being able to stay ahead in the race versus being behind and just not having what it takes.

“I don’t think at the minute we have the package from the beginning of a race, beginning of every weekend to the end of every weekend. I think we have more work to do. I don’t think we’re on par with Ferrari and with what Red Bull have. But we’re getting closer.

“So I think we needed a couple more of the steps that we had in Miami. And then I think, yes, we can start to talk a little bit more about that kind of thing. For now, I don’t think we have the package from the beginning of the season to the end, but we’re catching up.”

2024 Miami Grand Prix

• McLaren had superior pace before Verstappen’s damage in Miami – Norris
• Sainz ‘struggles to understand’ why he got penalty when Perez didn’t
• Alonso’s unusual brake problem and more unheard Miami team radio
• McLaren’s Miami upgrade success points to even stronger form in coming races
• Norris expects more wins this year and believes “100%” in 2025 title bid

Browse all 2024 Miami Grand Prix articles