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McLaren preparing for battle with Ferrari: 'We need to be on our toes'
- Ludo van Denderen
The McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri believe that Red Bull will be the team to beat in Qatar. Norris lost the title to Max Verstappen in Las Vegas and finished in sixth. Even though Norris expects a better weekend, he or teammate Piastri aren't confident that McLaren will win the race. In any case, their constructor's title rivals see Red Bull as the clear favourite for the weekend.
When Helmut Marko was asked a few weeks ago whether Red Bull Racing could win another Grand Prix, the advisor explicitly mentioned Qatar as a possibility.
Verstappen's RB20 does not particularly like bumps, kerbs and slow corners. Luckily for the world champion, he will have little to do with those in Qatar. The circuit is smooth and should offer him an opportunity to grab a ninth race victory this season.
Norris: 'Red Bull is still the best in high speed'
"Many things have changed since last year, but these high-speed circuits, I think, will suit Red Bull extremely well. Red Bull is still, by a mile, the best car at high speed. So I'm not expecting us to be the favourites, but I think we absolutely have a car that can fight a lot more than we have in Las Vegas," Lando Norris said.
Piastri considers a battle with Ferrari:
Teammate Oscar Piastri is hoping for a strong weekend from Mclaren, with an eye on the constructors' championship, which they lead heading into the penultimate round. "It was obviously good for us last year. But we can't just assume that it's going to be good for us and everything will be fine. I think we need to be on our toes and make sure that we put in the hard work in the next few days and come out strong there and try and build the gap [with Ferrari] again going into after that." The Australian concluded.
This article was written in collaboration with Toby Nixon.