McLaren told they can fight for victory by former F1 world champion

1992 Formula 1 world champion Nigel Mansell believes that Lando Norris and McLaren will be fighting with Max Verstappen for victory at the Monaco Grand Prix. Norris took his first win at the Miami Grand Prix, and finished just seven tenths behind the Dutchman in Imola.

Mansell admitted during an interview with Express Sport that he is still in contact with McLaren CEO Zak Brown, saying that Brown "agrees with me that it's possible to get pole position" around Monaco. As many drivers pointed out after Imola, Monaco is one of the hardest tracks to overtake on, so taking pole will be key if McLaren want a chance of fighting the Red Bull for victory.

Mansell continued in his interview: " Having had pole there three times myself, and I love Monaco for what it is, if you’ve got a car underneath you, you can do some special things there. And I would think McLaren will be fighting for pole position, as with Red Bull and of course as with Ferrari. Ferrari will do something very special there I’m sure."

"It’s a long year and it’s a great question because obviously there’s things afoot at Red Bull that we’re not all aware of and obviously they’re not as dominant as they were," referring to Adrian Newey's departure amid the Christian Horner investigation from the start of the season.

McLaren's superb job

Mansell continued to push the incredible turnaround of his former team, only racing for McLaren in two races in 1995. “I think McLaren have just done an absolutely superb job and Lando’s growing in stature every race. If he’d found only half a second mid-part of the race, he would have won the race on Sunday.

"That’s how close it is. So it’s very exciting for him and for his team-mate and McLaren to be challenging Red Bull and I actually think they’ve probably got the best car out there at the moment."

"I wouldn’t say the championship is wide open," Mansell admitted: "because Max is doing such a superb job. He qualifies brilliantly, he gets the best out of the car and unless Red Bull drop the ball, then he’s going to be tough to beat.

“But I don’t think he’s unbeatable this year. I think he can be challenged. Everyone has to have that little bit of luck, and if he doesn’t finish a race or two, it will be very close, very quickly.”