Lando Norris believes he can still achieve his dreams of winning world championships as well as races by staying with McLaren.
The Brit has endured a frustrating start to the season, with his McLaren outfit unable to close up on the likes of Red Bull, Mercedes or Ferrari during the rules revamp over the winter.
Before the season started Norris signed a new deal that tied him down to the Woking outfit until the end of 2025 but results have flattered to deceive since and he sits seventh in the standings 125 points down on series leader Max Verstappen.
Lando Norris has endured a ‘difficult’ start to the Formula One season with McLaren
McLaren have been unable to bridge the gap to the top three teams in the sport over the winter
Norris has only picked up one podium so far at Imola compared to the three he had at this point last term after nine races, but heading into his home race with this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, he believes patience will be key to McLaren providing him with a title winning car.
‘It’s been difficult [start to the season],’ Norris told Sportsmail. ‘I believe it is possible I only signed a new contract not so long ago to take me through a good few years. So it’s not like I didn’t have any belief. If I didn’t have any belief in the team then I probably wouldn’t be with them at the minute.
‘I have a lot of faith in the team I have since everything was refreshed and restarted with different people looking after it, and Zak (Brown, McLaren CEO) coming in and so on. There is a lot of new things and a lot of things under construction and being improved.’
The Brit’s only podium this season came with a third place at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
Norris has yet to win his first Formula One race but came incredibly close last season, finishing behind McLaren team-mate Danny Ricciardo at the Italian Grand Prix, while only a dramatic downpour of rain stopped him from breaking his duck in Russia before he finished seventh, having dominated the majority of the race from pole position.
The 22-year-old Bristolian, who stands best of the rest outside the top three teams in the drivers’ standings, reflected on the encouraging improvements he has seen the team make in recent times and believes future infrastructure upgrades including a new wind tunnel can accelerate McLaren’s development.
‘We have made a lot of progress after the last few seasons’, he added. ‘The fact we were competing for race wins and genuine wins, not one where people crashed and so on, it was genuine. I was on pole in qualifying and we led the whole race until the last three laps.
Norris came within a whisker of winning the rain hit Russian Grand Prix last season for McLaren
‘It’s obvious the improvements we have made it’s just the next step to really go from top of the midfield to the Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes kind of group.
‘But that’s the hardest step to take out of all it it. I don’t have an answer on how long it’s going to take.
‘I have faith in the team that we can get to that point. We have to wait for various things to come in to place.
‘This year is the first year of a new car so hopefully we can learn and do a better job over the season and into the winter and come out next year with something stronger.
‘We have the new wind tunnel coming along which is almost finished and should be done by the end of this year so we can build the 2024 car in the new wind tunnel.
‘So we are hoping that can have an effect and we can learn more and produce a better car from that side of things as well.’
Despite his F1 dreams, Norris is a well known MotoGP fan but shied away from the possibility of competing in the top class of motorcycle racing anytime soon.
Despite his passion for MotoGP, Norris has ruled out competing in the sport in the future but admits he would love the chance to one day ride one of the bikes
Norris would like a similar experience to that of Lewis Hamilton (left) who took time out to ride a MotoGP bike alongside legendary rider Valentino Rossi (right) back in 2019
When asked if he would consider a switch to two-wheels in an attempt to match compatriot John Surtees’ unique record of winning the world title in both F1 and MotoGP, a feat he completed in 1964, Norris instantly ruled out the prospect due to the extreme hazards in the sport, saying: ‘No, they are crazy!’
Norris is also known for being a childhood Valentino Rossi fan and despite his refusal to compete professionally admitted that he would still find it difficult to turn down the opportunity to ride a MotoGP bike when it was put to him that an invite by the legendary Italian rider would be a tough invitation to reject.
‘I know! But If I went straight on to a MotoGP bike I think I probably wouldn’t be around much longer. If I started on something smaller like the mini-motos… ‘Danny Ric’ does some of the mini-moto stuff sometimes, like the really, really small ones.
Norris was promoting an Xbox and Krispy Kreme partnership in the run-up to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday
‘If I started there and learnt a little bit on how to do it, maybe one day I would love to have the chance of riding against these guys like Lewis [Hamilton] did but I have no skill when it comes to motorbikes so I would need some time to learn first.
Norris was speaking a week ahead of his home race at Bluewater as he looked to promote his new partnership involving Krispy Kreme doughnuts and Xbox off the back of his Team Quadrant brand – one that he admits came about following a crash earlier in his career.
‘I have the Team Quadrant side of things disconnected from F1 and McLaren.
‘This one is working with Xbox and Krispy Kreme. I brought in a load of boxes for the team after I crashed in 2019.’
Formula One driver, Lando Norris supports Krispy Kreme & Xbox Ultimate Taste Adventure doughnut range, with an instore ‘Meet, Eat and Play’ appearance at Krispy Kreme, Bluewater Monday 27th June