Lando Norris has made a bold claim ahead of this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix that McLaren is the only team which possesses “two good drivers at the minute”.

McLaren has certainly proven itself the team to beat following the opening two grands prix in Australia and China. Norris won at Melbourne’s Albert Park, with team-mate Oscar Piastri taking the chequered flag at the Shanghai International Circuit.

The duo’s performances have allowed McLaren to open up an early 21-point lead over Mercedes in the constructors’ standings, whilst Norris has a slender advantage in the drivers’ championship, with Max Verstappen, George Russell and Piastri all within 10 points.

The picture does appear to be closer than what has been painted, with Norris believing the advantage McLaren has over its rivals is its driver line-up.

“I’m confident we’re strong at every track at the minute,” said Norris, speaking to media, including RacingNews365. “But we’ve seen over the last week and a half people saying they don’t think they’re that far away.

“So as much as Max might say stuff… like his last stint in China was very strong. Still not as good as us, but it was a lot more competitive.

“Fred Vasseur said that he thinks Ferrari should be competing against us and be up there a lot more. They beat us in the sprint, and they qualified ahead of us, so we’re that far ahead of them.

“People love to be saying that because we are the only team that has two good drivers at the minute. That’s the big difference. If one of us was doing a lot worse, or one of us was not as strong…

“You’d have that a lot more often, like you do with Ferrari and Red Bull. Max is up there, and you have the other driver a lot further back, so I think the fact we have two good drivers is honestly making the biggest difference.

“In certain cases, I don’t think we necessarily have the quickest car, whether it was the sprint last weekend [in China], qualifying or the race.

“But the fact we have two good drivers pushing each other makes a bigger difference than people expect and take acknowledgement for.”

Qualifying the bold claim

Given the apparent forthright nature of his remarks, Norris was later asked to clarify whether he believes McLaren has a stronger driver line-up than the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari.

Whilst providing an explanation for his prior comments, the 25-year-old zeroed in on the Italian outfit as an example.

He highlighted how any deficit the Scuderia’s pairing currently has to McLaren’s is owing to experience within the respective team, after Lewis Hamilton switched from Mercedes to the Maranello squad over the winter.

“The Ferrari one is obviously the experience side of… not experience of Formula 1, because we’re lacking in that department, but just two drivers who understand the team, who have been at the team for a long time,” Norris explained.

“Lewis is new to the Ferrari [team and car]. He openly says he’s still learning how to use the steering wheel – the complexity of the steering wheel, not just how to use one,” he added to laughter.

“So is he going to be able to get every last bit of it out of the car, comparing to what me and Oscar can? No. Like, he’s openly admitting to that, you know?

“So, it’s not that I think I’m much better than Lewis or Charles, because I don’t, and I’ll always been the first to admit that. I would never put myself in any ‘best of all’ ever.”

Nonetheless, the five-time grand prix winner does feel he and Piastri “push” one another more than other driver pairings up and down the F1 grid.

“But how we work as a team, I do think is better than every other team,” Norris added.

“How we push each other and get more out of one another as two drivers, I also agree we’re better than any other team, so I think that’s our advantage.”