McLaren's Lando Norris ready to challenge Max Verstappen for Formula 1 championship crown

McLaren emerged as the closest contender to Red Bull last year following an impressive mid-season turnaround with Norris scoring seven podiums.

The 24-year-old, gearing up for his sixth season on the Formula One grid, last month committed his future to McLaren by signing a contract extension which will keep him with the British team for at least the next three seasons.

Red Bull won all but one of the 22 rounds last season, with Verstappen cruising to his third world title in as many years.

But speaking at McLaren's car launch on Wednesday, Norris said: "If you were to ask, 'are Red Bull beatable?' I am going to have to say 'yes'.

"We have to believe that because we were very close at times last year and at certain times we did beat them.

"Can we beat them over a season? That is going to be a challenge and very difficult to do because of how well they performed, but I am optimistic."

Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri, who impressed in his rookie campaign last season, were provided their first taste of this year's machine at a Silverstone shakedown test on Wednesday.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella added: "At the start of the season my expectation of Red Bull is that they will enjoy an advantage.

"I say this because they didn't develop the car very much last year and I would think it is reasonable to expect that they will have accumulated knowledge and development from last season and bring that to the 2024 car.

"If, and I say if, we continue the development rate from 2023 into 2024, then we can be in a strong position. But whether that is enough to challenge Red Bull and the other top teams who have made improvements, we will find out."

F1's sole pre-season test gets under way in Bahrain on February 21, ahead of the opening race, also in the Gulf kingdom, on March 2.

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