After securing a double podium result behind dominant winner Max Verstappen last time out in the Japanese Grand Prix, McLaren is now 49 points behind fourth-placed Aston in the teams’ standings, with Mercedes and Ferrari ahead in the fight Red Bull has already sealed.
Until June’s Spanish GP, Aston sat second in the constructors’ contest as it consistently ran as Red Bull’s closest challenger during the season’s early phase.
McLaren did not score until round three in Australia, before the fight to be best-of-the-rest got much more mixed.
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McLaren joined that fray after significantly improving its MCL60 car, while Aston’s AMR23 lost its previous good form.
After finishing second at Suzuka, Norris said he “definitely” thought his McLaren team could catch Alonso’s Aston squad, as he previously “didn't think it was that close” and with there being six races of the campaign remaining.
When asked about Norris’s position in the pre-event press conference for this weekend’s Qatar GP, Alonso acknowledged that McLaren has “the momentum for sure” and has been “quite fast” of late, but predicted the fight between the two teams, plus Ferrari and Mercedes, would swing again before the end of the season.
“Every weekend we see ups and downs for everybody. They were very strong before the August break - in Austria, in Silverstone,” said Alonso, who drove for McLaren in the controversial 2007 season, and again between 2015-18.
“I think they were both [Norris and his team-mate Oscar Piastri] close to being on the podium in Silverstone and then in Zandvoort we were on the podium and they were struggling a little bit.
“So, it's good if they are overconfident. Let's see if we can beat them in Abu Dhabi [2023’s final race].”
Source: Autosport