McLaren's Title Ambitions Still Alive, Says Norris

Lando Norris is confident that McLaren can still mount a strong title challenge despite a slow start to the season. The reigning champion believes the team can "push hard" to defend their titles when the F1 season resumes from the Miami Grand Prix. Norris trails early championship leader Kimi Antonelli by 47 points, but he's optimistic about the team's chances. "I think we can have a good season, even if we're not where we want to be right now," Norris said. "We still want to push hard for the championship, this isn't a case of giving up and focusing on next year." Norris cited examples of previous seasons where the team has turned their campaign around, saying "we've been there, done it, learned from it and I trust that this team knows how to do it again." The team has been working to address reliability issues that have affected their car and Mercedes power unit. Ensuring McLaren gets to the bottom of these issues is a key area of focus, according to Norris. "We're not in a terrible position, but we've definitely got to work to get back in contention for wins, and, even then, we need to keep going to make sure we've got a car capable of winning every single weekend," he added. Team-mate Oscar Piastri also expressed confidence in the team's ability to get into regular victory contention over the remaining 19 races. "We have a lot of work to do to be back at the front consistently, but closing the gap to Mercedes and out-developing the field is something that's within our control," Piastri said. The Australian driver has complete trust in the team to turn things around, saying "I am genuinely excited to see what we can achieve."