McLaren: "Not unrealistic" for Norris to target P3 in F1 championship
McLaren Formula 1 chief Andreas Seidl believes it is "not unrealistic" for Lando Norris to target third place in the drivers' championship after his strong start to the season.


Norris has scored points in every single race so far this year and only failed to finish in the top five once, including podiums at Imola, Monaco and the Red Bull Ring.
Fourth place at the British Grand Prix lifted Norris into third place in the standings above Red Bull's Sergio Perez. He sits five points clear of the Finnish driver, and is nine ahead of Red Bull's Sergio Perez in fifth.
McLaren F1 team principal Seidl was realistic about Norris's chances of ending the year third given the strength of the Red Bull and Mercedes cars.
But he felt it was a good target for Norris to have as he looks to repeat his strong first half of the year through the remaining races.
"Whether it is a realistic target is difficult to say, because the Red Bull car and the Mercedes car is really a better car," Seidl said.
"Valtteri and Checo also showed some great races this year and from the past, on what they can do. It is down to the strong performances by Lando together with the team and the competitive car we have this year and we managed after 10 races to be P3.
"So it is not unrealistic to stay there if he can put up this half of the season again like this.
"But we have to be honest as well one or the other at times something needs to go wrong on the Red Bull side or Mercedes side as we are not in a position yet purely down to our performance to beat them.
"That is the reality we are in and we cannot forget that."

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M, Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes W12
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Norris's result at Silverstone saw him break the McLaren team record for the most consecutive points finishes, marking his 15th race in a row inside the top 10 to eclipse Fernando Alonso's benchmark from 2007.
The British youngster has spearheaded McLaren's efforts this year as it fights Ferrari for third place in the constructors' championship. McLaren currently sits 15 points clear ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Read Also:
Seidl acknowledged that McLaren has its sights set far higher than P3 in the championship, but accepted that on current form, the most it can achieve is to hassle the leading two teams on occasion.
"Of course we wake up in the morning because we want to win races on the Sunday," Seidl said.
"That is not possible at the moment yet down to our own performance. So we will try to do better races in terms of strategy or car performance or staying out of trouble more than the others, or by luck from time to time.
"These are combined to put us in the position where we are at the moment thanks to, again, the great performance of the drivers and of the team here at the track and back home.
"That is what we will try until the end of the season, to give our competitors a tough time each time we reach another track."
Related video

Wolff: F1 cannot rule out further Hamilton/Verstappen crashes
The core problems Yas Marina’s long-awaited tweaks won't address

Latest news
20 years on: Porsche’s 911 GT Daytona 24 Hours giant-killing relived
IMSA’s new GTP class for LMDh cars had a more auspicious debut last weekend than the Daytona Prototypes that arrived in 2003. Back then, they were humbled by a GT Porsche 911, which won the Floridian sportscar classic by nine laps.
Entries open for the 2023 Williams Autosport Engineer of the Future Award story
Entries have opened for the 2023 Williams Autosport Engineer of the Future Award, with budding motorsport engineers invited to apply for the revamped prize.
What really happened when F1 drivers went on strike?
Being a Formula 1 driver is one of those dream jobs, but that doesn't mean everything always runs smoothly.
Lack of job security could hold Vasseur back at Ferrari, says Montoya
A lack of job security is a big negative that could hurt new Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur's ability to do his job, reckons former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya.
Assessing Hamilton's remarkable decade as a Mercedes F1 driver
Many doubted Lewis Hamilton’s move from McLaren to Mercedes for the 2013 Formula 1 season. But the journey he’s been on since has taken the Briton to new heights - and to a further six world championship titles
Why new look Haas is a litmus test for Formula 1’s new era
OPINION: With teams outside the top three having struggled in Formula 1 in recent seasons, the rules changes introduced in 2022 should have more of an impact this season. How well Haas does, as the poster child for the kind of team that F1 wanted to be able to challenge at the front, is crucial
The Mercedes F1 pressure changes under 10 years of Toto Wolff
OPINION: Although the central building blocks for Mercedes’ recent, long-lasting Formula 1 success were installed before he joined the team, Toto Wolff has been instrumental in ensuring it maximised its finally-realised potential after years of underachievement. The 10-year anniversary of Wolff joining Mercedes marks the perfect time to assess his work
The all-French F1 partnership that Ocon and Gasly hope to emulate
Alpine’s signing of Pierre Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon revives memories of a famous all-French line-up, albeit in the red of Ferrari, for BEN EDWARDS. Can the former AlphaTauri man's arrival help the French team on its path back to winning ways in a tribute act to the Prancing Horse's title-winning 1983?
How do the best races of F1 2022 stack up to 2021?
OPINION: A system to score all the grands prix from the past two seasons produces some interesting results and sets a standard that 2023 should surely exceed
Who were the fastest drivers in F1 2022?
Who was the fastest driver in 2022? Everyone has an opinion, but what does the stopwatch say? Obviously, differing car performance has an effect on ultimate laptime – but it’s the relative speed of each car/driver package that’s fascinating and enlightening says ALEX KALINAUCKAS
Why F1's nearly man is refreshed and ready for his return
He has more starts without a podium than anyone else in Formula 1 world championship history, but Nico Hulkenberg is back for one more shot with Haas. After spending three years on the sidelines, the revitalised German is aiming to prove to his new team what the F1 grid has been missing
The potential-laden F1 car that Ferrari neglected
The late Mauro Forghieri played a key role in Ferrari’s mid-1960s turnaround, says STUART CODLING, and his pretty, intricate 1512 was among the most evocative cars of the 1.5-litre era. But a victim of priorities as Formula 1 was deemed less lucrative than success in sportscars, its true potential was never seen in period
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.