Norris and McLaren 'don't have car' to fight for title despite Dutch GP win

Lando Norris says he and McLaren "don't have the car I need to fight for a championship", despite a second consecutive win to open the second half of the Formula 1 season.

The Briton's victory in the final Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, following on from his first win of the season in Hungary last month, was of the highest calibre.

As such, it raises the prospect of the sort of championship fightback staged by Red Bull's Max Verstappen against Norris himself last year.

After this race last year, Norris' team-mate Oscar Piastri had a 34-point advantage over the Briton and 104 over Verstappen. Yet Verstappen, after one of the all-time great fightbacks, finished the season just two points behind Norris as he won the title in Abu Dhabi

Norris' masterful victory in Zandvoort has left him 83 points off the lead, held by Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who he and McLaren passed on track after losing the lead at the chaotic start of the day.

Antonelli's team-mate George Russell is tied on points with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, 59 behind the Italian.

But while McLaren have made a major step forward with upgrades to their car that led to convincing wins in both Hungary and now the Netherlands, Norris believes that the car still has too many flaws to mount the sort of consistent attack Verstappen produced last year.

"I'm confident because we clearly have a strong car," he said. "We have a strong car in certain areas. It's not like last year where we were pretty good everywhere.