Lando Norris jumped polesitter Charles Leclerc into Turn 1 of the United States Grand Prix last weekend before race winner Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton demoted the Briton down to third - although the lead Mercedes was then disqualified for running with an excessively worn rear plank.
Given that the remaining rounds in Mexico, Brazil, Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi represent a move away from high-speed circuits that better-suit the McLaren MCL60, Norris now reckons that his best chances of fighting for a first GP win have now been and gone.
In addition, team principal Stella says that McLaren has not got a “magic” upgrade waiting in the wings that will dramatically help improve pace and tyre degradation to take the fight to Red Bull.
Stella said: “We are realistic that this season is not like we have going to have any magic in terms of car development to actually add the lap time or add the improvement from a tyre degradation point of view that will change things around significantly.
“But we were, at the same time, not expecting this [Circuit of The Americas] track to be one in which we were leading the race for an entire stint and a half. We look forward to the coming races and hopefully we can succeed.”
Source: Autosport