McLaren has been slipping backwards in recent years, which led to wholesale changes to the technical structure and to its Woking infrastructure, projects overseen by incoming team boss Andrea Stella and by CEO Zak Brown.
While the benefits from its new wind tunnel and other facilities won't be tangible until next year, McLaren has already been reaping the rewards from its structural overhaul, which led to the production of a B-spec of its 2023 MCL60 which has yielded two second place finishes for Norris in Silverstone and Budapest.
McLaren's major step forward has also eased concerns on Norris' future at the team. The Briton, who has never raced for a different squad in F1, was subject to plenty of rumours and speculation in recent months despite being tied to McLaren until the end of 2025.
But now the team has delivered significant progress and has been able to mix it up with the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and Aston Martin, Norris has admitted to feeling some relief that McLaren has what it takes to turn its fortunes around.
"I guess there's always a bit of relief, just going from any difficult situation to having such a big change around," he replied when asked by Autosport if there a sense of reassurance about McLaren's recent results and performances given his long-term deal.
"Even if we took half the step we did take, I think we still would have seen that as a positive sign. But the step was even bigger than we were expecting. So, of course, it's relief, but not just for myself, I think for the whole team.
Source: Autosport