Lando Norris has “faith” but admits “time will tell” about his future at McLaren.
The Briton finished ‘best of the rest’ in this year’s Drivers’ Championship and was also the only driver outside the top three teams to finish on the podium, claiming third at Imola.
However, Norris acknowledged he and McLaren had expected more from this year as they failed to use the new regulations to close the gap to the front.
“If I think of before this season, did we achieve in 2022 what we should have done as McLaren? Honestly, no,” he said.
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“If we want to do well and we want to be champions at some point and we want to win races, we can’t be satisfied with where we have been this season, but we can certainly be satisfied with the progress we’ve made.
“From the mechanics with our pit-stops, our strategy, the whole team’s work ethic, so many things are working well – it’s just we need a slightly better car, that’s all.”
Norris committed to McLaren until the end of 2025 before this season but later revealed he had talks with Red Bull prior to signing the contract extension.
When asked about his future, the 24-year-old kept his options open.
“I’m not a guy who likes BS or likes people trying to make me happy, I like people just being honest,” he replied.
“I have faith in McLaren, I have faith in the guys I work with, the whole team.
“Time will tell. You can never be 100 per cent certain where you’ll be, but you can have a good shot at it.”
Lando though did point to 2024 as a crucial year for McLaren, when their new windtunnel becomes operational.
“That will be our first year in which we no longer have any excuses. At the moment, we can still make good excuses,” he claimed.
“We always look at what we can do better and 2024 will be the first year when we will operate almost at the level of the top teams with our infrastructure. The rest is up to us, the people who work here.
“I believe in us. We have reached a point where we understand better what we need to do, what direction we need to take and how to achieve our goals.
“We also have a better understanding of why we haven’t taken as many steps forward as we wanted to in the last two years.
“Is it because of our car philosophy? The design? The wind tunnel? I hope our new one will help us in 2024 and 2025. I have to have faith that the team can do a good job.”