Norris expects 'Verstappen will get things going again'

Lando Norris thinks he can compete with Ferrari for a podium finish in the Japanese Grand Prix. The Briton sees Max Verstappen as the favourite, but he expects the Suzuka circuit to suit the home-grown MCL38 very well.

The McLaren driver's prediction for this weekend? "I think Max will kind of be back on track, and then Ferrari and then probably us. I think we can be tight with Ferrari because a bit more of a bias towards the high-speed corners here," Norris said.

"But yes, just to be clear, I think from the first few races on average we're probably the third quickest team. Maybe a little bit behind at times in qualifying, relative to the Aston Martins, I think [they] can be very quick in qualifying, they have a very stable car. So in qualifying it looks good, for some reason in the race they struggle a bit more, and that's when we can maybe be a bit closer," he says regarding the Aston Martin.

"That's a good sign, it means that we can be competitive in races, and I think we've been relatively competitive in all the races so far this year, so that's a good strength from us. Maybe qualifying is the one where I find it a little bit tougher to get everything out of the car. But from my side, I'm just kind of like I said last weekend, trying to get everything out of the car in qualifying I struggle with a bit. On myself, and just with how we are as a team."

McLaren in qualifying

Norris says the McLaren is a tricky car to drive on Saturdays. "There's still things, even over the last couple of weeks, I've learnt about quite a bit. You know, like in qualifying, I've always been wanting to push quite a bit more in certain areas, and kind of want to go out and just be attacking. And I have to do the complete opposite. And it's a hard one to get my head around, because I want to go out and, say, find another limit in qualifying, and I just can't do that. With these tyres and with our car... You almost have to drive it the opposite way."

The 24-year-old driver had his qualifying better under the old 2021 regulations and seasons before. "From being used to the cars a few years ago, that's kind of punishing me now, and not adapting quick enough. But that's something that's up to me. That's my job, to adapt and to do a better job. But also just with how our car is, how you have to drive it, it's always been said, and it continues to be quite a tricky car to drive. To execute a perfect qualifying lap. Every single time. It's not an easy thing to do. But that's also, like we said, something we're working on," he concludes.