F1: Lando Norris will leave McLaren if they cannot provide winning car

Lando Norris has just about told the McLaren team to deliver a competitive car in 2023, or he will look for a different team.

Norris stood on the podium for the one and only time this year when he finished third at Imola. No other driver outside the top three teams managed a podium all year.

From left, Italian Enrico Balbo, Red Bull Racing Head of Aerodynamics, Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing (second from right), Second placed Sergio Perez of Mexico and Oracle Red Bull Racing (second from left) and Third placed Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren (R) celebrate on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari on April 24, 2022 in Imola, Italy. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

“A podium always means something to me, it means something to the team but one isn’t enough,” said the 23-year-old. “One is like we got lucky and all of this stuff. You want to feel like you deserve to be there all of the time.

“We deserved to be there for sure. We weren’t quick enough to be there, we were way ahead of where we deserved to be, but one time isn’t enough for me. It’s not a good enough job by the whole team and again, all of that is down to the car we have had.”

“I have to have faith that my team can do a good job. 2023 will be our first year in which we have no more excuses,” he said, hinting he could look elsewhere for a seat if McLaren cannot match his ambition.

“Everyone is working hard now. It isn’t like it’s a new thing. We know we’ve had a very tough season. We’ve found it difficult, we’ve been quite up and down. We’ve had a weekend like here where we were quick and then we’ve had Brazil which was one of our worst weekends of the whole season.

“We’ve had one of the biggest lows and then maybe one of the best highs of the year in the final two weekends, so there’s a lot of understanding still for us, a lot of learning but we need to take a step next year, we have to take a step. I feel like everyone is putting in the effort to do that so time will tell.”