Lando Norris is confident he and McLaren can close the gap to Red Bull next season after making huge strides as a team in the second half of this year.
The Brit racer, 24, concluded his 2023 campaign on Sunday with fifth place at the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, meaning he finished sixth in the F1 driver standings.
Max Verstappen, with a third championship title already long secured, prevailed at Yas Marina Circuit to make it 19 wins from the calendar's 22 races – one of the many records he sealed this season. Red Bull, meanwhile, won every race bar Singapore.
However, McLaren and Norris were the next best performers from the July British Grand Prix onwards. A second place at Silverstone sparked a run of seven podiums for the driver, comprising six runner-up finishes and one third.
It meant McLaren came home fourth in the constructors’ championship, behind Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari.
Norris, still searching for a first race win in F1, is convinced his team can close the gap on Red Bull, who with 860 points were more than 550 better off, through 2024.
Speaking on Monday after shooting a promotional video at the DP World Golf Performance Centre at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, Norris was asked if he was bullish about McLaren's chances going into next season.
“Optimistic in winning I don’t think is very realistic, but optimistic in terms of progressing and taking a step towards Red Bull, we can definitely do that,” he said. “Because we’ve done it in the middle of the season when it’s harder than ever to do.
“You’re a lot more limited on wind-tunnel time and looking at the now and trying to think, ‘OK, what else we can do’. The winter is just reset; you take everything, you take it apart, you look at every single object, and you put it back together in an even better way.
"And now we know what direction to lean in, we can really go for that. We’re on the right track.”
In Abu Dhabi on Sunday, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff conceded his team face a “Mount Everest-sized” challenge to rein in Red Bull next year.
However, Norris said of his own team: “Some weekends we’ve been close. Brazil was eight seconds or something, Suzuka was 16 seconds or something, Silverstone, with the safety car, was definitely not going to be more than 15 seconds.
“So that’s not Mount Everest. It’s a hill, but it’s not Mount Everest. When you’re talking about 15 seconds over a 60-lap race, you’re talking about a 10th a lap – it’s tiny. It’s nothing, but at the same time it’s so much.
“What [Red Bull have] been very, very strong at is just consistency of performance at every single type of circuit. We’ve had our good ones; we’ve had our bad ones. Mercedes too. Red Bull, apart from Singapore, have not had any bad ones.
“So that’s the level we have to get to. But there’s many things, it’s not just by making a quicker car. There’s a lot of levels that have to come together, and that’s what we’re behind with.
“We’re not there on every single level and that’s what Red Bull are at the minute. But we showed this year that we can make such a big step. And it can be done by anyone.
“And it can be done by us again. That’s just the step we’ve got to make again.”
Abu Dhabi F1 - in pictures
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Global institutions: BlackRock and KKR
US-based BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with $5.98 trillion of assets under management as of the end of last year. The New York firm run by Larry Fink provides investment management services to institutional clients and retail investors including governments, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, banks and charitable foundations around the world, through a variety of investment vehicles.
KKR & Co, or Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is a global private equity and investment firm with around $195 billion of assets as of the end of last year. The New York-based firm, founded by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, invests in multiple alternative asset classes through direct or fund-to-fund investments with a particular focus on infrastructure, technology, healthcare, real estate and energy.
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Scoreline
UAE 2-1 Saudi Arabia
UAE Mabkhout 21’, Khalil 59’
Saudi Al Abed (pen) 20’
Man of the match Ahmed Khalil (UAE)
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
Manchester United v Liverpool
Premier League, kick off 7.30pm (UAE)
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Getting there
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly to Johannesburg or Cape Town daily. Flights cost from about Dh3,325, with a flying time of 8hours and 15 minutes. From there, fly South African Airlines or Air Namibia to Namibia’s Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport, for about Dh850. Flying time is 2 hours.
The stay
Wilderness Little Kulala offers stays from £460 (Dh2,135) per person, per night. It is one of seven Wilderness Safari lodges in Namibia; www.wilderness-safaris.com.
Skeleton Coast Safaris’ four-day adventure involves joining a very small group in a private plane, flying to some of the remotest areas in the world, with each night spent at a different camp. It costs from US$8,335.30 (Dh30,611); www.skeletoncoastsafaris.com
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Company%20profile
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