{"id":520463,"date":"2026-03-05T14:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T14:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/520463\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T14:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T14:32:11","slug":"lando-norris-expresses-confidence-in-mclarens-ability-to-defend-titles-as-he-shares-impact-of-starting-season-as-a-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/520463\/","title":{"rendered":"Lando Norris expresses confidence in McLaren’s ability to defend titles as he shares impact of starting season as a champion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lando Norris has expressed confidence in himself and McLaren to defend the Driver and Teams\u2019 Championships they secured last season, adding that he is aware of how his newfound status as reigning champion could affect his approach.<\/p>\n

The Briton has fond memories of the opening event in Australia<\/a> as Albert Park is where he began his 2025 title challenge, pipping Max Verstappen<\/a> to Grand Prix victory and paving the way for a season-long battle.<\/p>\n

McLaren<\/a> were undoubtedly the team to beat as they sealed the teams\u2019 title in Round 18, but Norris faced tough competition from both his Red Bull rival and own team mate Oscar Piastri<\/a>, eventually winning by just two points over Verstappen.<\/p>\n

Asked whether he has faith in himself and the Woking outfit to repeat the feat, Norris<\/a> replied: \u201cCertainly. I\u2019ve got good confidence in myself which is a nice way to start the season, and confidence in the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we probably don\u2019t have the same level of confidence in our outright speed compared to what we had at the beginning of last year, but we\u2019re confident in our ability over the course of a season to get back to where we want to be. It\u2019s not like we\u2019re coming here and we\u2019re confident we\u2019re going to win.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know in past years, especially two or three years ago, the amount we\u2019ve been able to turn things around in a season where it\u2019s all about development, bringing upgrades, learning more about the car, being efficient \u2013 that was one of our biggest strengths over the last few years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll just take it easy no matter where we finish here or China, or in the first few races of the season. We\u2019re confident that through the year, we\u2019ll be able to get back to where we really want [to be], and that\u2019s something we\u2019ll look forward to.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the competitive order still somewhat of an unknown ahead of on-track action in Australia, McLaren may not be able to dominate the Standings<\/a> as much as they did last season, when they outscored their closest rival Mercedes by 364 points.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, in relation to his own approach to the season opener, Norris admitted that he feels \u201cthe same\u201d despite coming off the back of the high that was being crowned champion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy, I\u2019m confident,\u201d he said. \u201cI come into this season understanding and knowing I\u2019m in a different position because of last year. I feel better about things and more confident in myself, but other than that, really nothing changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t give me any other advantage really. The rest of it is still down to hard work, good teamwork, developing a good car, and me performing every weekend. That\u2019s got nothing to do with me having the number 1 on my car or not. I\u2019ve still got to go out there and give it my all every single session, every lap, so that\u2019s what I\u2019m working to do.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lando Norris has expressed confidence in himself and McLaren to defend the Driver and Teams\u2019 Championships they secured…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520464,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":["post-520463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520463\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}