‘We can do it’ – Norris says he and McLaren ‘have what it takes’ to win the 2024 title

Can Lando Norris and McLaren really challenge the might of Max Verstappen and Red Bull to win the 2024 drivers’ and constructors’ titles? One person who certainly thinks so is… Lando Norris himself, who said his team had “what it takes” to take the fight to their rivals.

Norris netted his second career pole position at last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, having claimed his maiden F1 victory in Miami earlier in the season.

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But while the English driver currently sits 69 points adrift of Verstappen in P2 in the drivers’ standings – with McLaren only P3 in the constructors’, 93 points behind Red Bull – Norris was confident when asked – after finishing second to Verstappen in Barcelona – whether he was a genuine title contender.

“I mean, I think so,” he replied. “I think we should have done better today. We should have got some points back on Max. Potentially, there was a chance to beat him in Canada. So two races that I finished second and he's won. But Max needs to stop winning in order to achieve that!

“Even though I moved into second in the championship, that doesn't matter,” Norris added. “I couldn't care if I was second or 10th. It's more about what the gap to Max is, and he's still extending it at the minute and that's something we can't afford… [We] can't afford to kind of let him run away with it at this point of the season.

“But we can do it. You know, if I just made some better decisions in Canada, and if I had a better start today, we could have won two races. And I know there's a lot of – and there kind of always has been a lot of – ‘shoulda, woulda, couldas’, but we have what it takes. It's just about putting it all together.”

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Something that will buoy Norris is the location of the next two races: Austria, a track Norris has prodigious form at (see the video above) and Silverstone, his home race, where he was on the podium last year… albeit behind Verstappen.

“Austria and Silverstone are two of my favourite tracks, in terms of performances and where I've performed well at,” said Norris. “So I'm excited. We're on a good roll, we're doing well.

“I need to just tidy up a few little bits and we'll be on top.”