Norris rejects rivals' claims of McLaren dominance

Lando Norris has firmly rejected claims from rivals about McLaren's perceived dominance in Formula 1, describing such comments as "nonsense," "random," and "crap."

The British driver's strong words come as McLaren adjusts to its new position at the front of the grid following consecutive victories to start the 2025 season.

McLaren has emerged as the team to beat after claiming the constructors' championship last year, their first in 26 years.

The momentum has clearly carried into 2025, with Norris winning in Australia before teammate Oscar Piastri took the checkered flag at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Rivals stoke the fire

Mercedes driver George Russell recently suggested that McLaren could win every race this season, claiming their advantage exceeds what Red Bull previously enjoyed.

Ferrari's team principal Fred Vasseur and driver Charles Leclerc have also commented on McLaren's perceived gap to other teams.

"I think the people that say that, like the 'unbeatable' stuff... it's just nonsense. They just like to talk crap sometimes,"

Norris said ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend.

The McLaren driver didn't hold back when addressing the media, suggesting journalists should verify claims rather than simply reporting them.

"It's your job as the media to figure out these things, I think, and not just listen to what everyone says and write what they say," he added.

Target on their back

After completing a remarkable transformation from backmarkers to frontrunners, McLaren now finds itself with "a target painted on the back of its papaya cars."

Rather than feeling pressure, Norris insists the team is embracing their new position.

"The target [on our back] is a nice thing, I think. We're still new to it," said Norris.

"Mercedes had it for five, six years where they were the targets, so I think we've got a bit of time before we get to those kinds of numbers."

Perspective on their advantage

Despite the recent success, Norris was quick to put McLaren's current advantage into perspective compared to Red Bull's dominance last year.

"If we go back one year ago, Red Bull were still a lot further ahead than we are now,"

Norris pointed out.

"The fact that they had two drivers up there dominating, they were a lot further ahead than we are now."

The British driver acknowledged that while they currently have "the strongest car on the grid," it's "not always the easiest car to drive."

This new position as championship leaders has only motivated the team further as they aim to extend their advantage over rivals.

"While we're at the front, we know that they're behind us, so it really pushes us,"

Norris explained.

"We want to still try and increase our advantage more than what it is now."