Lando Norris believes McLaren are ‘behind’ Alfa Romeo’s pace this season

Norris acknowledges his team’s speed has to improve to beat rivals

Lando Norris signed a new four-year deal with McLaren earlier this year (Bradley Collyer/PA) (PA Wire)

McLaren driver Lando Norris has said his team are “behind” rivals Alfa Romeo in a “tight” midfield also involving Alpine, AlphaTauri and Haas.

McLaren had an awful start to the season but they have gradually built into the campaign. They still aren’t at the heights they will be aiming for and the British driver has been realistic about where he believes his team are.

“I think we are behind Mercedes [in terms of pace],” said the 22-year-old as per Motorsport-total.com. “We are also behind Alfa Romeo but are well in the running with Alpine and AlphaTauri. Haas are somewhere in that region as well. So I think it’s quite simple – it’s tight.

“In the race, we have decent pace. It’s just going to take a bit more for us to take on Mercedes and the guys in front. If we can do that, we can be happy.”

In Miami McLaren experienced a slight regression as Mercedes overtook them on pace. At Imola, the race before Miami, McLaren had the upperhand but Norris believes it was to do with the track.

“Miami has a lot of slow corners where Mercedes have one of the best cars in the field. From day one, the Mercedes has been good in those sections,” explained Norris.

“I guess they figured out this weekend how to get more potential out of the car. So I’m not surprised. It’s been like that in Formula 1 for years. Sometimes your car suits the track, sometimes it suits another car better.”

The next opportunity for the teams to impress will be at the Spanish Grand Prix on 22 May.