Bullish Lando Norris makes bold Red Bull double claim after shock Miami GP win
Lando Norris, McLaren and Red Bull logos.
Lando Norris has warned Red Bull not to expect his maiden Formula 1 win in Miami to be a one-off, believing McLaren can challenge them for more wins in F1 2024 before taking the “next step”.
While Norris had a huge slice of luck with the timing of the Safety Car in Miami – Red Bull’s dominant force Max Verstappen was apparently also carrying floor damage – there was no luck involved upon the race restart as Norris ditched Verstappen to become an F1 race winner in style as his victory margin coming in at 7.6 seconds.
Lando Norris targets more F1 2024 wins and 2025 title
Norris was driving the heavily-upgraded McLaren MCL38 in Miami, his performance an emphatic seal of approval on their progress made, but it is not a case of one and done. Instead, Norris believes Red Bull is suitably within reach for McLaren to claim more victories this season.
“We can win more races this year, I think we can compete against Red Bull,” Norris told Sky F1 as he spoke from the McLaren Technology Centre.
“I think we’re looking at an exciting season between us, Red Bull, [and] Ferrari.
“I think we still have work to do, we’re not at the level that they are just yet. There’s going to be races that we’re competitive enough but, on average, we’re not quite where we want to be.
“I think we still have our feet on the ground, we know we still have more work to do, but as soon as they [McLaren staff] have all had a little drink this morning, I’m going to tell them to get back to work [laughs] so we can keep fighting for more.”
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That is stage one for Norris and McLaren, with the Brit then looking ahead to 2025 for his next bold target, which is to challenge Red Bull for title glory, not just wins.
Asked if a 2025 title bid is realistic for him and McLaren, Norris replied: “Next year, 100 percent.
“But, I’m saying that still with my feet on the ground.
“Absolutely. I want to believe we’ve got two great drivers like Zak [Brown, McLaren Racing CEO] normally says, we’ve got an amazing team behind us and we’re closer than ever.
“So yeah, as much as I said at the beginning of this year that we can win races, I want to believe and I should have the confidence to say next year we can go for more, we can go to the next step.
“But, we have a lot more work to do and we’re working hard to try to achieve it.”
McLaren last tasted F1 title success back in 2008, the year Lewis Hamilton won his first of seven Drivers’ titles to date.