Lando Norris believes McLaren can open up the F1 title fight when they head to Monaco for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
The 24-year-old finished in the top two of the previous three grand prix, claiming his maiden victory in Miami.
He threatened to finish ahead of Max Verstappen for a second time at Imola last Sunday with a late charge, but finished within one second of the Red Bull driver.
Looking back at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Norris said while he is sure he could have done things differently, he sticks by his choices.
"I did everything I believed was right at the time," Norris told Sky Sports.
"When it's so close you always think 'What really could I have done that little bit differently,' but you always could have done something a little bit better or a little bit differently. I'm sure Max could have reviewed things and said the same thing.
"But nice to know it wasn't an easy one for him. It's about time someone put him under pressure, and he felt a bit of nerves again because I'm sure he hasn't felt it for a while.
"I don't want to be overconfident - that's never been me - but we want to come into races now and be confident in racing against the Red Bull, racing against Ferrari because we are in the mix with them."
Before the race at Imola, Norris said he believed McLaren were not quite ready to challenge Red Bull for the title this year.
The Briton currently sits fourth in the standings, 60 points behind Verstappen, but he now thinks they can count themselves in the running this year.
"We're a third of the way through so we have a very long way to go, so I think many, many things can happen," he added.
"But also, Monaco is a place where anything can happen. So, I would never say 'no' anymore.
"I've got fed up of myself kind of underestimating what we can achieve as a team. So, we're going to come in, we're positive, we've had a very good run of results - second, first, second - and there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to continue that here in Monaco.
"It's not known to be our best track but, at the same time, anything can happen."
Norris: Catching Verstappen more likely than previous seasons
Max Verstappen is still the favourite to win the Formula One world title, but Lando Norris is more confident that the Red Bull driver can be caught.
Verstappen is in the hunt for his fourth straight world championship crown, and leads the drivers' standings with five race wins to his name in 2024.
However, only 31 points separate the Dutchman, who is on 169, and second-placed Charles Leclerc, while McLaren's Norris sits third with 113 following his victory in Miami last month.
Mercedes, meanwhile, have come back into contention in recent races, with both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton impressing in qualifying, albeit they have been unable to translate that into a victory as of yet.
But with more contenders, Norris feels the field is opening up.
"There is more chance and possibilities now, especially if Mercedes are in the fight; more chance of having a bigger swing of points." he said, as per BBC Sport, ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.
"A bad weekend for Max was third but it could be fifth or sixth.
"And if you can be the guy who wins, within one weekend you can turn quite a lot of points around fairly quickly. If it goes like that, there is a higher chance."
Norris conceded, though, that Verstappen is still at the very top of his game.
He added: "Max's bad weekend is never going to be a bad weekend. It's still going to be a good amount of points. He is just strong in all areas. It is rare he makes mistakes or messes up qualifying.
"But with more pressure you never know how that changes, and always with pressure it is always easier to make mistakes."
In the world of Mercedes, Hamilton has urged the team's fans to give backing to Russell, who has faced accusations of the team favouring him, given his team-mate is set to join Ferrari next season.
"I think they know if you look over the years, we've always been a strong team. We've always worked really hard together," Hamilton told reporters.
"I think we need support, not negativity, and I wasn't actually aware that George was experiencing negativity.
"George has done nothing but his best every single weekend and is delivering for the team, so he can't be faulted at all.
"Of course, there can always be things done better within the team, and that comes through conversation, through communication, and that's something that we are consistently working on.
"But we're all in the same boat. We're all working hard together. We want to finish on a high and feel that we owe that to our long-term relationship that we've had."
Norris: Catching Verstappen more likely
Max Verstappen is still the favourite to win the Formula One world title, but Lando Norris is more confident that the Red Bull driver can be caught.
Verstappen is in the hunt for his fourth straight world championship crown, and leads the drivers' standings with five race wins to his name in 2024.
However, only 31 points separate the Dutchman, who is on 169, and second-placed Charles Leclerc, while McLaren's Norris sits third with 113 following his victory in Miami last month.
Mercedes, meanwhile, have come back into contention in recent races, with both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton impressing in qualifying, albeit they have been unable to translate that into a victory as of yet.
But with more contenders, Norris feels the field is opening up.
"There is more chance and possibilities now, especially if Mercedes are in the fight; more chance of having a bigger swing of points." he said, as per BBC Sport, ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.
"A bad weekend for Max was third but it could be fifth or sixth.
"And if you can be the guy who wins, within one weekend you can turn quite a lot of points around fairly quickly. If it goes like that, there is a higher chance."
Norris conceded, though, that Verstappen is still at the very top of his game.
He added: "Max's bad weekend is never going to be a bad weekend. It's still going to be a good amount of points. He is just strong in all areas. It is rare he makes mistakes or messes up qualifying.
"But with more pressure you never know how that changes, and always with pressure it is always easier to make mistakes."
In the world of Mercedes, Hamilton has urged the team's fans to give backing to Russell, who has faced accusations of the team favouring him, given his team-mate is set to join Ferrari next season.
"I think they know if you look over the years, we've always been a strong team. We've always worked really hard together," Hamilton told reporters.
"I think we need support, not negativity, and I wasn't actually aware that George was experiencing negativity.
"George has done nothing but his best every single weekend and is delivering for the team, so he can't be faulted at all.
"Of course, there can always be things done better within the team, and that comes through conversation, through communication, and that's something that we are consistently working on.
"But we're all in the same boat. We're all working hard together. We want to finish on a high and feel that we owe that to our long-term relationship that we've had."
We will be back says Perez following Canadian Grand Prix incident
Sergio Perez has apologised following a second successive retirement at the Canada Grand Prix which left him 87 points behind Red Bull team-mate, Max Vertsappen.
The 34-year-old remained fifth overall in the world championship and a point behind Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, who was one of five drivers that failed to finish the race.
In difficult conditions in Montreal, the Mexican started 16th but hopes of climbing up the pecking order soon faded after damaging his car's front wing on the opening lap when he made contact with Alpine's Pierre Gasly.
He then crashed into the barriers late in the day after losing control on a damp kerb at turn six, hobbling back to the pits with a broken rear wing.
"I'm very sorry for my team, I let them down today. But we will come back no doubt. There’s a very long way to go," Perez said on social media.
His final incident cost him a three-place grid penalty for the next race in Barcelona, with the stewards punishing him for a breach of the safety rules that require a driver to stop if the car is unsafe.
"The incident was on me, I touched the wet part into turn six and I couldn’t stop the car, I couldn’t touch the brakes," Perez said on Sunday.
"It has been a very tough couple of weekends, we will regroup, keep our heads down and learn from the weekend. We identified a couple of issues after qualifying and they meant we would have qualified a lot higher.
"Hopefully we can be back to our form in Spain and get back to the level we were at earlier in the season. I am confident in that, there are good tracks coming for us."
Perez recently signed a new two-year deal with Red Bull, ending speculation that the world champions will sign free agent Sainz ahead of the new season.
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