Norris says McLaren are not favourites in Canada: 'Ferrari are the standard'

"I think it's still probably our biggest weakness, and yes, we were good in Monaco, but that's when you can just focus on slow speed. I think when you have to focus a bit more on medium and low speed at the same time, that's when we struggle to maybe get a better balance of both," Norris began to explain to GPblog among others in Montreal.

"And Monaco is Monaco, so I wouldn’t just say we've fixed our low speed, I think we still need to improve it more to be on par with the Ferrari. I think they’re the standards of where we need to be in slow speed," the one-time race winner named Ferrari to be a favourite for the Canadian Grand Prix.

He continued: "I think they're favourites. I mean with kerb riding, kerb riding is a big part around here. But it's just going to be close. It's impossible for me to say if it's going to be us or Ferrari or Red Bull on top, so I think that's why it's exciting, because none of us really know. It's just going to be very close. It has been the last three, four weeks. So Ferrari I'd probably put as the favourites, because of decent straight line speed. As an all-round car, I think they [Ferrari] probably have one that suits this track best."

Norris still struggles with the car

The upgrades McLaren have brought in 2024 have improved their car, but Norris still finds some aspects uncomfortable. "I still feel like I struggle just as much, which is always the thing you're kind of going to feel in the car. But I struggle with the same things, it's not like we've just fixed what our issues were. I still don't feel confident and comfortable with certain things from that aspect, but clearly we're closer to where we need to be, compared to the other teams around us."