McLaren - “Not unrealistic” for Norris to claim third in F1 title race

Lando Norris is in such good form this season McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl believes it is “not unrealistic” for the British driver to hold onto his third place in the F1 title race.

Norris has claimed three podiums this season and has only once finished lower than fifth, clocking up 113 points to put himself five ahead of Mercedes rival Valtteri Bottas in fourth.

After the Briton finished fourth at Silverstone, behind the two Mercedes and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Seidl said: “Whether it [third] is a realistic target it’s difficult to say because the Red Bull car and the Mercedes car is clearly a better car.

“Valtteri and [Sergio] Checo [Perez] have also shown some great races this year and I also know from the past what they can do. Obviously, it is down to the strong performance together with the team.

“With the competitive car we have this year we have managed, after 10 races, to be in P3, so it is not unrealistic to stay there if, let's say, we can put up a second half of the season again like this."

Seidl wary of Ferrari threat

McLaren is also currently third in the constructors’ championship, but is just 15 points ahead of Ferrari and, after the form shown by Leclerc to finish second at Silverstone, Seidl is wary of the threat from behind.

“Let's not forget we also have very strong competition from the Ferrari drivers,” he said. “To be honest I am not surprised by the performance of the Ferrari team, I am also not surprised by the steps they can make during the season.

“They are a strong team with strong drivers, they have all the resources also that you need in order to react to problems, they have the team with the experience to react to problems.

“So it’s not a surprise, two strong drivers as well, and it will be a very tense battle until the end of the season, hopefully. We are bringing some upgrades to Hungary to our car to make sure we can keep this battle up.

“It’s great for us that we are P3 in the constructors’ championship. After 10 races, 163 points is a big step forward for us compared to last year so very happy with that.”

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