Lando Norris’ recent form has been sensational, with the Briton having been a frontrunner ever since McLaren introduced their sizeable upgrades package at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Prior to Formula 1’s visit to the Red Bull Ring, Norris had often finished towards the bottom of the points, and even that was a big achievement in the MCL60 at the time.
However, in the last four races, Norris has finished fourth, second, second and seventh.
His two P2 finishes came at the British Grand Prix and the Hungarian Grand Prix, both of which he demonstrated exceptional pace at.
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Norris actually qualified on the front row at Silverstone and led the opening laps, before the superior Max Verstappen took the race lead, as expected.
Nevertheless, Norris hasn’t finished P2 on luck, with both rostrums having been claimed fully on merit.
His recent performances have promoted him to eighth in the Drivers’ Championship, with the top five now not being too far away.
Norris finds himself just 23 points behind former team-mate Carlos Sainz, who occupies P6.
The top five are then just a further seven points ahead.
Finishing 2023 in the top five is certainly achievable if McLaren’s form continues or if they introduce further strong upgrades.
Despite the upgrades though, the 23-year-old admits that the MCL60 still isn’t to his “liking”, with it continuing to not suit his “strengths at all”.
“It’s not just my liking, it’s also Oscar’s because we have pretty similar comments,” Norris said.
“Same as last year, even when Daniel [Ricciardo] was driving, we had a lot of similar comments, every day, every weekend.
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“It’s difficult to describe. You have to drive it quite one way. But it’s also a way that I don’t want to drive, or like to drive.
“I don’t like to drive the car the way that I have to drive it now. I feel like it isn’t to my strengths at all.
“I want to be able to carry minimum speed and to ‘U’ a corner. And the last thing I can do in the world now is ‘U’ a corner. I have to ‘V’ the corner more than ever, and I’ve never been the biggest fan of doing that. And I don’t like it that much.”