Do McLaren now have the fastest car in F1?
McLaren bossꦗes quizzed whether they possess the best car in Formula 1
McLaren bosses have played down questions about having the fastest car in F1 despite Lando Norris’ win at the Dutch ꦓGrand Prix.
Norris claime⛄d pole position on Saturday then converted it into victory on Sunday by a margin of 22 seconds ahead of second-place Max Verstappen.
With Red Bull now winless in the past five races, Zandvoort could be the moment remembered as McLaren’s takeover a♚s having the best car in the sport.
“It�♑� was a big gap,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown said to Sky Sports.
“We knew that we were fast all weekend. I am not shocked 🌟but I am pleasantly surprised at the size of the gap.
“Once Lando got into clean ♕air he controlled it pretty easily.
“We don’t kn♍ow about each tr🎐ack until we get there.
“The u꧃pgrades clearly worked. We need to keep our feet on the ground and not assume that will be a repeat every weekend.”
He was asked if McLaren’s car is now faster than the once-mighty Red Bull RB20ꦛ, and he answered: “I think it’s hard to tell. Clearly we have a very fast car.
“We have mor𝔍e fun stuff coming at Monza which is a different type of track.🤡 I think Red Bull will be quick there.”
Team principal A🧜ndrea Stella added: “Having the fastest car depends on the conditions.
“Ba🅘rcelona, Hungary, here… it suited our car. Now having upgraded, let’s see if it can be the best car at every venue.🧜 This is the objective.”
Stella said about No🎃rris’🍰 win: “Satisfying, beyond expectation.
“We knew the car was perfoꦅrmin🐠g well but today was a positive surprise, in terms of how fast it was.
“It’s great that Lando could capitalise with a dominant victory. Oscar got stuck in t෴raffic, he deserved a podium and he could have attacked Verstappen.”
McLaren are now just 30 points behind Red Bull in the conꦦstructors𝓡’ championship.
“We 🐟are in a strong trend and we should believe in it,” Stella said abou🅘t toppling Red Bull.
“We’ll give our best but we are fighting Red Bull who hav🍌e been dominant in previous seasons.
“We have the performance to give it a go.”
Sky Sports’ Bernie Coll🦋ins analysed: “Last year they were the most improved team. We thought ‘can it continue?’
“It’s more remarkable this year. To win with this margin, we were not expecting that.😼 To get pole with that margin, we did not expect that.”
The ꦜF1 Italian Grand Prix at Monza next weekend offers McLaren - who promise to bring new upgrades - another opportunity to claw at Red Bull.
James was 🍸a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
