Rand Norris has argued that in his “myopic” claim McLaren has an advantage over the rest of the field that enters the Australian Grand Prix season.
McLaren won the Constructors title for the first time since 1998, and thus won the fastest car late last year, looking seemingly strong in preseason tests last month.
Norris’ race simulation on the second day of his Formula One Test in Bahrain was about a second faster than Ferrari’s Charles Leclair and Mercedes’ Kimi Antoneri, which frowned.
Mercedes’ George Russell said McLaren will start a “more strong” season, and his team’s boss Totowolf said the Walking-based team “evidently has the ‘fastest car’.
“I know there’s a lot of hope, and that’s what everyone says. My one race run made me believe this very heavily,” said Norris, who was Max Verstappen’s runner-up in last year’s Driver Championship.
“It was a good race run, but it was also the most perfect condition. Oscar was much later the following day, not because he got worse, but because the conditions on the last day were pretty slow.
“I’m a very myopia person, especially someone you don’t expect, and I’m very surprised that we have so many conclusions before we start the season. But we just want to play a game where everyone looks like the underdogs and play it.”
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Randnoris played McLaren’s domination while he was in a ballpark similar to the rest of the grid.
Norris: You’ll be surprised at the pace of Ferrari
If McLaren is the fastest, testing suggested that it would be difficult to split Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes into the back.
Norris joined with Verstappen to eight pole positions last year, but managed to get a strong race pace for McLaren on Sunday.
Norris half-joking about his speech that McLaren is a favorite of the title is “great publicity” for the team, telling people to keep an eye on Ferrari in Melbourne.
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Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle and Naomi Schiff are
“If you’re going out this weekend and doing a bad job that cares about what people have said in the past. I don’t believe it,” he added.
“I feel like we’re in a stadium similar to the top of three teams. I think we’re still in the top four in the US. [teams]. There are many things other people didn’t see.
“The others, like Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari, etc., looked very strong. I know how much fuel and things Ferrari had for a lot of testing, and you’ll be surprised at how fast this weekend.
“People can talk about what they want. I think we’re staying with ourselves. We’re staying focused. We want to be quick.
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Max Verstappen shared honest approval for Red Bull’s post-performance testing.
Reigning world champion Verstappen reiterated that Red Bull had “work to do” on Media Day in Melbourne on Thursday.
“We know that we’re not the fastest at the moment, but it’s once again a very long season,” he said.
“If you asked that question here last year, it looked completely different again at the end of the season, so a lot of things can always change very quickly in Formula 1.”
Norris and Piastri: “Lace freely”
Earlier this week, McLaren announced that Oscar Piastri has signed a new multi-year contract extension, meaning that it will tie drivers until at least the end of 2027.
Piastri and Norris had a flash point last year, but they’ve been doing well for the majority on the track.
At the Hungarian Grand Prix, Norris was repeatedly told to pass Piastri in the later stages of the race after weakening his teammates at the pit stop. Eventually, Norris passed the Piastri three laps, winning the Maiden F1 race for the Australian.
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When he heard Oscar Piastri’s hilarious reaction, he was asked if he could beat England in the ashes this year or if he could have more chances to defeat England along with his teammate Norris
Six weeks later, at Monza, Piastri overtook Norris on the opening lap of the pair’s first and second Italian Grand Prix. In doing so, Norris lost to Charles Leclerc and the Ferrari driver was won.
After that incident, McLaren declared Norris would be prioritized for the rest of the season due to his position in the driver’s championship. However, at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Norris slowed down Sergio Perez for the latter to win the race. Norris also allowed Piastri to win the Qatar Sprint just before he reached the checkered flag.
Piastri will have a house crowd by his side this weekend, and Norris has confirmed that they will “race freely.”
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Piastri hopes for “more success” after signing a new multi-year contract extension with McLaren ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, which opens the season
“There’s no papaya rule. We’re happy to compete against each other. Of course, we’re going to do a lot with each other this season and hope we’re going to be,” he said.
“The strength last season was helping each other and we were always giving each other a fair amount of rooms, race fairs. That was the strength last season and we had to keep it up. That’s one of the biggest things we do as a team, and our biggest goal.
“We want to beat each other, so it’s always going to be tough, and that’s inevitable at the end of the day, but at that moment there are lines that we can’t cross as teammates.
“Let’s get both cars on track and not let the debris fly. Aside from that, we’re happy to race. We’re excited to compete against each other and push each other to the limits.”
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Strategy Analyst and former Aston Martin Strategy Director Bernie Collins breaks down his best chances to win the Australian Grand Prix, the opening race of the Formula 1 calendar
Sky Sports F1 Live Australia Grand Prix Schedule
Thursday, March 13th
9.45pm: F3 Practice10.55pm: F2 Practice
Friday, March 14th
1am: Australian Grand Prix Practice 1 (session starts at 1:30am) *2.55am: F3 Qualifying *3.40am: Team Principal’s Press Conference
Saturday, March 15th
12:10am: F3 Sprint *1.10am: Australian Grand Prix Practice 3 (session starts at 1:30am) *3.10am: F2 Sprint *4.15am: Australian Grand Prix Qualifier Build-Up *5am: Australian Grand Prix Qualifier *7am: Ted’s Qualifier Notebook *
7:30am: Australian GP Qualifying Replay* (9am at Sky Showcase) 9.55pm: F3 Functional Race*
Sunday, March 16th
12.25am: F2 Functional Race *2.30am: Australian GP Build-Up: Grand Prix Sunday *4am: Australian Grand Prix *6am: Australian GP Reaction: Checkered Flag *7AM: Ted’s Notes *7.55am: Australian GP Race Replay 10am: Australian GP Highlights
*Sky Sports Main Event
Watch all 24 race weekends at the 2025 F1 season live show, starting at the Australian Grand Prix on March 14th-16th. Stream Sky Sports Now – No Contract, Cancel Anytime
