Lando Norris said the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix proved that McLaren are not as far ahead as people have suggested so far this season.
Team-mate Oscar Piastri won the race from second on the grid to usurp Norris at the head of the world championship but only finished 2.8s ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who had earlier served a five-second penalty at his pit stop for cutting the race’s first corner in a wheel-to-wheel battle with the Australian.
Norris, meanwhile, recovered well from the crash in qualifying that left him 10th on the grid to finish fourth, although a late attempt to chase down Charles Leclerc for third saw him come up one second short of the Ferrari.
And asked about the strong performances of the lead Red Bull and Ferrari cars, Norris told Sky Sports F1: “I don’t know why people are so surprised, they’re just as quick in most sessions, they’re just as quick as us in the race.
“Just because we’re quick in practice, people just keep coming up with all this c**p.
“I mean, they can keep saying what they want. We don’t believe we’re much ahead, as showed. I think probably Max was the quickest out there today if he didn’t have that five-second penalty, so we have work to do.
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Highlights of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
“People keep saying that we’re the best, we’re the quickest, blah, blah, blah, but it’s just because we show a bit more pace in practice and then we don’t have anything left when it gets to qualy, but that’s our way of doing things.
“That’s how we feel, we optimise things. If we didn’t do it that way, we’d be even further back, so no, I’m happy with the work we’re doing.
“People just need to recalibrate that we’re not… we have a great car and probably the quickest on average for sure, but clearly not enough.”
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Norris suffered a massive crash in his McLaren during Q3
Norris sets target to have ‘better Saturdays’
Given Norris had predicted after his big setback in qualifying that he would need some good fortune to even finish in the top five with the limited overtaking opportunities offered up by the fast Jeddah street track, the Briton appeared satisfied with his evening’s work to come away with 12 points for fourth.
He said he was “pleased on the whole” with the recovery drive and result, although admitted: “I make life tough for myself”.
“I think it’s the best we could have done today,” said Norris, who now trails Piastri by 10 points in the standings after five rounds of the 24-race campaign.
“Of course, it’s a shame to miss out on a podium. We were close. It’s always hard to judge those things.
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Lewis Hamilton and Norris battled
“Charles drove a good race, a good first stint, and gave himself that opportunity to have a decent set of tyres in the second half.
“I think I only boxed four or five laps after, so not enough to get him. I’m pleased on the whole, I just make life tough for myself, especially when it’s a race like that. It would have been much easier, a lot more chilled, just to drive at the front.
“In some ways it’s a bit easier, so I’ve got to help myself out a little bit and have better Saturdays.”
Norris had told the team similar on the radio, saying: “Just got to work on my Saturdays, and we’ll be good.”
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