Is Norris in a real title fight? "McLaren are absolutely in it"

Karun Chandhok believes McLaren are "absolutely in" a title fight with Red Bull. The former Formula 1 driver sees a high degree of confidence within the McLaren team, which is shown by their decision to upgrade their car during a sprint weekend in Miami. However, Chandhok does consider some factors which could mean McLaren seem further ahead after just the one win.

Teams and drivers only had one 60 minute practice session before the meaningful events started in Miami. It also took place on a street circuit. As a result of this, Zak Brown previewed the weekend with the risk factor in mind. It turned out to be a risk worth taking as Norris won the 2024 Miami Grand Prix and Chandhok explains how this shows confidence.

Are McLaren in a title fight with Red Bull?

"The car can compete with Red Bull when the circumstances are all lined up. I think they're in it. They're absolutely in it. The fact that you would make a decision to bring a big upgrade to a sprint weekend and only have one hour to dial the car in shows a huge degree of confidence in the development programme going on back at the factory because I don't know of many other teams that would have that confidence honestly to make that decision. For McLaren to make that call is brilliant," Chandhok said on the Sky Sports F1 podcast.

Oscar Piastri was only fitted with around 50% of the upgrades, but Chandhok also highlighted how he was running second in the first stint. McLaren are currently more than 100 points behind Red Bull in the World Championship, with Norris being 53 points down on Max Verstappen. Even with 18 races remaining, that's some deficit to close in on. Chandhok also added in some other caveats.

"We have a data set of one which is not very useful really because Miami is a unique circuit. It's a street circuit. The surface is pretty unique. It's not a normal track. We're now coming up to Imola which is a more traditional circuit. Very different in terms of the fact that it has traditional asphalt on the ground. But actually, you've got lots of high-speed changes of direction, you've got a bit of elevation change as well, so you've got to have good stability and compliance over the kerbs. There are chicanes as well," Chandhok said.