Lando Norris shares disappointing verdict about McLaren after the first pre-season test

Lando Norris reckons McLaren's 2024 F1 pre-season testing was not perfect, with the team facing several hiccups. He also gauged the gap to rivals ahead of the season opener in Bahrain.

McLaren's MCL38 encountered fuel system issues on the second day of pre-season testing. Norris was close to the top of the timing sheets during days one and two but fell behind on the final day.

The British driver said that the team encountered a few issues during the testing sessions, which was not ideal for them. Nonetheless, he was happy to see problems pop up during testing rather than during the first race of the season.

“I think it’s been a… not a perfect few days, we’ve definitely had our fair share of issues, which is not exactly what we would like, but better now than [at the Grand Prix] next week," he said (via F1.com).

Lando Norris further compared McLaren to other teams on the grid. He feels his team is slightly behind Ferrari and miles off Red Bull. He admitted that McLaren needs to work harder to close the gap with their rivals.

“I’m feeling good, the car has definitely felt [like] an improvement in some areas, and in other areas still plenty to improve. A positive few days, but still a big gap to some of the guys ahead, so that’s a lot of work we still need to do over the next week or so to try and close that down already. We’re definitely quite a chunk behind Ferrari and quite a chunk behind Red Bull – I think they’re clearly a long way ahead,” he added.

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Lando Norris feels the F1 grid will be tighter in 2024

McLaren driver Lando Norris has opined that the F1 grid will be much more compact in the 2024 season.

Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda, after the MCL38's virtual launch, Norris spoke about how the F1 grid gradually tightens when there are no changes to the regulations. He mentioned the 2023 F1 season and how close the grid was from first to last, even though Red Bull was the dominant team. He said:

“Yeah, I think so. With any regulation, the later you get to the regulation normally the tighter it gets. It’s normally what we see so it’s already one of the tightest years, from what I remember in terms of regulation for quite a long time. Even when it was dominated more than ever, it was the tightest from first to last for the majority of the year," Lando Norris said.

In 2023, McLaren drastically closed the gap to Mercedes and Ferrari after their massive mid-season upgrade package. However, they were still miles behind Red Bull, who were winning races by several seconds. In 2024, the British outfit, along with other top teams, will be aiming to challenge Red Bull.