Lando Norris snapped back at Fernando Alonso ahead of this weekend’s returning Qatar Grand Prix, after the Spaniard claimed that McLaren are becoming “overconfident” in the fight for fourth in the Constructors’ Championship.
McLaren are rapidly hunting Aston Martin down with six races remaining and have been taking huge chunks out of their advantage over recent races.
Aston Martin currently sit just 49 points ahead of the Woking-based team, who took 29 points out of their lead in just the recent Japanese Grand Prix alone.
McLaren are very much the favourites to claim fourth, given that they’re arguably second in the pecking order currently.
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The Lusail International Circuit is also expected to be a very strong venue for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, meaning Aston Martin will be lucky to come out of the weekend with at least a 25-point advantage.
Aston Martin have been severely struggling as of late and look nothing like the side who claimed five podiums in the opening seven rounds.
Alonso recognises that McLaren “have the momentum” behind them, although he did take a swipe at his former team by insisting that them being “overconfident” is an advantage for Aston Martin.
“Obviously, they have the momentum for sure. They’ve been quite fast, but maybe we can see ups and downs for everybody,” Alonso said during the pre-weekend drivers’ press conference.
“They’ve been very strong before the August break, in Austria, and in Silverstone. They were close to being both on the podium at Silverstone and then, Zandvoort, we were on the podium and they struggled a little bit, so it’s good if they’re overconfident and let’s see if we can beat them.”
In Norris’ press conference later in the day, he was asked about Alonso’s comments, something the Briton wasn’t surprised to hear.
The 23-year-old defended McLaren and insisted that the team aren’t “overconfident in any way”, with it simply being a case of Alonso trying to make “himself look very good”.
“How many points did we catch last weekend? Quite a few, over 20 I think. So unless his his math is deteriorating, which it definitely isn’t, then that’s just Fernando, he’s always gonna say things,” Norris said.
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“He always makes himself look very good or other makes other people look bad. He’s very good at that,” Norris said during a later session of the pre-weekend drivers’ press conference.
“I don’t think we’re overconfident in any way. I think we’re the last people who have ever been overconfident in saying anything. Especially myself, but I thought we were a lot more points behind. So for us to be them within 49 or 47 whatever it is, with six races still to go.
“Like with two cars performing well. For them they struggled to have two cars up there in Q3, or up there at the end of the race I would say it’s silly for him to think the opposite. But he’s a smart guy. I’m confident we can do it just because if we can have more P2 and P3s and things, of course it’s possible.”