McLaren F1 benefitting from Ferrari’s mistakes in battle for P3 - Norris

McLaren trails Ferrari by just two points after six races with the two teams enjoying varying degrees of performance from circuit to circuit.

The Italian manufacturer seems to have the advantage in low-speed corners and over one lap in qualifying, evidenced by Charles Leclerc’s back-to-back pole positions in Monaco and Baku, while McLaren fares better on the straights and in high-speed corners.

While Ferrari has enjoyed the upper hand in recent races, Norris believes its mistakes have cost it fully maximising the performance advantage it has had.

“Quite simply in slow-speed corners they are very competitive,” Norris said in Thursday’s drivers’ press conference for the French Grand Prix. “They can often be one of the best cars in the very slow speed corners. A couple of the tracks lately have suited them. I’m hoping that we can be a little bit more competitive this weekend, but they are getting better.

“They are always making improvements, as are we, and we are trying to improve in every area. They’ve been very quick on Saturdays. Charles has been on pole twice. But then they have made more mistakes and struggled more on Sundays.

“That is where we have gained some of it back, and looked a bit stronger. So trying to continue that with the points being on Sunday and not Saturday, that is good for us and coming into our favour, but as a car they generally have been quick in qualifying on Saturdays.”

Remarkably, Norris is the only driver on the grid to have scored points in each of the opening six races and thus leaves him fourth in the drivers’ championship, ahead of Leclerc and Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas.

“It is good for me and us as a team,” Norris replied when asked about his run of points finishes. “Especially from where we are in the constructors’; we are very close with Ferrari, so these kinds of things add up at the end of the season.

“Even if it is one point or two points, it can still make a good difference, so it is good. I’m doing what I can. It depends, sometimes you want to take more risks and go for a better position. But also I feel like I have made good decisions to be on the safer side sometimes and not take too many risks.

“Like in Baku, I was down to 12th after lap one and things are not looking so good. But I still ended up fifth. It is good for me and us as a team. And that is what we need to continue.”