McLaren's Lando Norris tempers expectations despite preseason hype from rivals

Dominika Jordan
Mar 13, 2025, 03:22 AM ET

McLaren's star driver, Lando Norris, has tempered expectations surrounding his team ahead of the new Formula 1 season, citing the formidable performance of rivals Ferrari, Red Bull, and Mercedes in pre-season testing.

McLaren, the reigning constructors' champions, were earmarked as the front-runners following impressive results during February's Bahrain testing. Norris, in particular, showcased remarkable race pace on the second day, suggesting a theoretical 17-second advantage over a race distance compared to competitors Mercedes and Ferrari.

However, Norris believes that rival teams have strategically hyped McLaren's testing performance to shift pressure onto them and present themselves as underdogs.

"I'm quite surprised so many people are short-sighted, especially people you wouldn't expect to be, making so many conclusions before we've even started the season," Norris commented. "Everyone just wants to play that game of looking like the underdog and playing it down. We just focus on ourselves.

"It's nice that so many people are thinking about us and talking about us, great publicity for us so I thank all of them. But it makes no difference. If I go out this weekend and do a bad job, who cares what people have said in the past? I don't believe it; I feel like we're in a similar playing field to the top other three teams. I still think it's us top four."

Norris also downplayed the significance of his race simulation results in testing, indicating that other teams may have been holding back.

"There are many things that other people didn't see where other people looked extremely strong, including Red Bull, including Mercedes, including Ferrari," he revealed. "I know how much fuel and stuff Ferrari had for a lot of the testing -- you'd be surprised at how quick they're going to be this weekend.

"People can talk all they want. I think for us, we've kept to ourselves, we've kept focused. We want to be quick, we expect to be up there fighting, but I definitely don't think by the margin that everyone is saying."

As the new season approaches, Norris remains cautious but optimistic about McLaren's prospects, emphasizing the need to stay focused and avoid getting carried away by pre-season hype.