New updates propelled Norris to victory in Zandvoort: 'Upgrades helped us'

Norris thanks McLaren for the formidable car

After the race, Norris was delighted with his own and McLaren's performance. "A win is always satisfying, so very good. Obviously didn't start in the most optimistic way but the pace was unbelievable from the beginning and I could go with Max quite happily at the start," the Briton revealed.

Verstappen overtook Norris immediately at the start, but the Dutchman - just like in 2023 - could not drive away from the rest of the field. In the end, Norris caught up with Verstappen and drove a whopping 22 seconds into the distance. "I just didn't expect our pace to be probably as good as what it was today which is a good thing. It's nice to be a little bit surprised by this and as soon as I got ahead it was quite straightforward. I could push, I had good confidence to push the whole race, save the tyres a little bit but just get in a good rhythm and go from there. The car felt amazing, felt great and made my life easier for sure so a big thanks to the team," the now two-time Grand Prix winner added.

Norris: 'We probably would've won without the upgrades'

For the first time since the Miami Grand Prix, McLaren came out with new updates on the MCL38. Norris thinks he currently has the best car and would have beaten Verstappen even without those updates. "I mean this weekend a little bit, I still feel like we probably would have won without the upgrades this weekend. The upgrades didn't make us certainly a lot quicker here, but the upgrades we've been putting on the car, have helped us every time," he explained.

With that said Norris indicates that the new rear wing made overtaking Verstappen a lot easier. "This was the first time we really put something on the car to drive us a step forward and it definitely did that. It's not like we've not been competitive over the last two months since Miami, we've been quickest in Budapest and very quick at certain other races like Barcelona and Silverstone but small things make a big difference and today with how the car felt I'm sure it was a step ahead. A new rear wing probably helped me get past Max today so little things like that definitely help you go forward." McLaren's star driver concluded. The Brit will be hoping to continue cutting into Max Verstappen's 70-point championship lead at Monza this weekend.

This article was written in collaboration with Toby Nixon

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