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Lando Norris opens up on frustrations over McLaren performance ahead of 2023 Formula 1 season

Lando Norris opens up on his frustrations, with McLaren set to remain off the pace of Formula 1's leading teams in 2023; the 23-year-old Brit's contract runs until 2025; watch F1 pre-season testing on Sky Sports from February 23-25

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Lando Norris says he still has faith in McLaren to enable him to fulfil his lofty ambitions in Formula 1.

Lando Norris admits he has thought about attempting to force a move away from McLaren but insists he has "not lost faith in the team" ahead of the start of the 2023 Formula 1 season.

The 23-year-old Brit has established himself as one of most highly-rated drivers in the sport but his yet to claim a race win, with McLaren very rarely providing him with a car capable of challenging for victories.

At the launch of their 2023 model on Monday, new McLaren team principal Andrea Stella warned that the situation is unlikely to change this season, with the team targeting 2025 for a return to the front of the grid.

Having signed a contract extension in February 2022, Norris is tied to the team until the end of the 2025 campaign, but his talent is such that his future remains a major talking point ahead of the the start of the new season, which begins in Bahrain on March 5.

"I have the patience, at this time, to wait out these years, and not even wait them out, but to make the most of these two years," Norris said at the launch of McLaren's MCL60.

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The McLaren team review the MCL60 as it was revealed for the first time ahead of the 2023 F1 season.

"I'm happy to do so, to a certain extent, I'm only 23 and I feel like I've got many years still to go, and those two years and potentially 2025 being the year where we can be in that position to really fight for things.

"At times it's tough to think because I'm a competitive guy and I want to win, so of course at times you think about what you could do to get into that position earlier, but also I'm very comfortable with where I am now, I have good confidence in the team, if I didn't then maybe my mindset would be different."

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Norris' - and the team's - confidence about making progress over the next couple of years is based on significant investment in infrastructure, most notably the building of a new wind tunnel and simulator, both of which are set to be ready for use midway through 2023.

By that point the team are highly likely to have shifted their focus to the development of their 2024 car, which is why they are signposting next season as the time when signs of progress will become apparent.

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In 2022 McLaren regressed a place in the Constructors' Championship for a second successive campaign, finishing fifth after failing to take advantage of the introduction of radical new design regulations, which they had hoped would provide an opportunity to close the gap on Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari.

"It's a long way away, but we'll see how the progress can be this season, how we can do at the end of the season when we get things in the new wind tunnel and start to get our first idea," Norris said.

"I want to believe 2024 and 2025 are when you should start to see some bigger change. It feels like a long time away, we've got the whole year to do, but the beginning of that starts this year.

"I know that we've said that a bit over the last few years and so on. And I get that last year was frustrating because new rules, new regulations was really our chance to pioneer that jump forward, but that wasn't to be.

"(It was) frustrating from my side, frustrating for the whole team to be in that position, but I think there are valid reasons for it, and I have definitely not lost faith in the team that I'm part of and I'm very happy to continue to work with them be part of the journey to hopefully get back to winning championships and winning races."

Stella: Norris needs to lead us

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says he has "sympathy" for Norris at the prospect of driving another uncompetitve car in 2023, but has urged the Brit to help lead the team's development.

"I would certainly understand and have sympathy for him (Norris)," said Stella, who was promoted from executive director to replace Andreas Seidl after the German's off-season departure to Sauber to take up the opportunity to oversee their transition into Audi."

"But at the same time, not only do we not only want to keep Lando on board, we also want him to take a leading position in the team.

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McLaren chief executive officer Zak Brown gave an update on all the team's business, including drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, at their 2023 car launch on Monday.

"I've seen previously, great drivers take leading positions when it was the time to build a team, and certainly Lando is now ready to take this responsibility.

"But when it comes to us, the only thing we can do is focus on ourselves. We know that Lando will be happy if we are happy, if we are happy with the development of the car, the development of the team, then his happiness and willingness to stay with the team will come as a natural consequence."

McLaren chief executive Zak Brown added: "He (Norris) signed up for the long term because he knows the journey that we're on.

"This feels like family to him, so as long as we continue to progress… we're all impatient, so we're all there with him in our desire to win, but we recognise that it's going to take a little bit more time."

Pre-season testing is all live on Sky Sports F1 from February 23-25, as is every Formula 1 practice, qualifying and race. The season-opener is the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 5.