Lando Norris believes that significant changes in performance in F1 are unlikely until the sport’s major regulation overhaul in 2026, a state of affairs that plays to Red Bull’s advantage according to the McLaren driver.
After establishing itself as the top team in the latter half of 2022, Red Bull crushed its rivals in 2023 and carried its advantage into 2024.
Three-time world champion Max Verstappen secured dominant victories in the opening two races of the season, starting from pole position on both occasions.
Although a brake failure forced him out of the Australian Grand Prix after just a handful of laps, the DNF did little to quell his rivals’ concerns about Red Bull’s overall pace.
With just one year left after this season before the sport undergoes a significant shift with new chassis and engine regulations, Norris doubts there’s enough time for other teams to bridge the gap to Red Bull’s current level.
“No, I think for things to really shake up, you need to wait until 2026,” commented the McLaren charger, quoted by Motorsport.com.
“I think that could potentially be a big shake-up for every team, including the power units probably being one of the biggest things.
“Now there’s not really anything between the power units between teams, but a lot more between cars. I expect Red Bull, being the team that they are, to always carry an advantage because they’re ahead.”
Only time will tell if 2024 is another Red Bull one-sided affair which would obviously not bode well for 2025. Norris reckons that teams are inching closer, but catching the bulls by the end of next season – let alone overhauling them – is unlikely.
“They’re just as smart, smarter in many ways, that if they do just as good of a job as any other team, they should always carry the advantage that they have, but you do hope that they start to run out of good ideas,” the Briton added.
“I think every team is catching up. Even if you look at our 12 months of progress from last year, we’ve been the team who have developed the most and we’re the best developing team over the last 12 months.
“So, when you look at it from that perspective, I think we can be very happy with the job that we’re doing. But it’s not enough and it’s not close enough to challenge them.”
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Norris: No real ‘shakeup’ in F1 until 2026 regulation change F1i.com.
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