Verstappen and Red Bull have been doing well since the middle of 2022. Verstappen won the first two races of the 2024 season easily, but he had to retire early in the Australian Grand Prix because of a braking problem.
Even though there’s still a year left until 2026, when Formula 1 will have new cars and power units, Norris thinks it’s unlikely for other teams to catch up with Red Bull anytime soon.
“No, I think for things to really shake up, you need to wait until 2026,” Norris said. “I think that could potentially be a big shake-up for every team, including the power units probably being one of the biggest things.
“Now there’s not really anything between the power units between teams, but a lot more between cars. I expect Red Bull, being the team that they are, to always carry an advantage because they’re ahead.”
Norris hopes that Red Bull will start to struggle before then. Even though McLaren has made big improvements compared to last year, it hasn’t been enough to challenge Red Bull.
“They’re just as smart, smarter in many ways, that if they do just as good of a job as any other team, they should always carry the advantage that they have, but you do hope that they start to run out of good ideas,” Norris explained.
“I think every team is catching up. Even if you look at our 12 months of progress from last year, we’ve been the team who have developed the most and we’re the best developing team over the last 12 months.
“So, when you look at it from that perspective, I think we can be very happy with the job that we’re doing. But it’s not enough and it’s not close enough to challenge them.”
Also read: Max Verstappen Forced To Retire From Australian Grand Prix Ending Streaks
