Though it holds a commanding position atop the Constructors’ Championship standings, Lando Norris insists McLaren remains vulnerable to its rivals.

Norris sits second in the Drivers’ championship, 10 points in arrears of team-mate Oscar Piastri, with the pair having won seven of the nine races so far in F1 2025.

Lando Norris warns McLaren ‘our competitors are catching up’

McLaren holds a 197-point advantage over its nearest rival at the top of the teams’ standings, headed by Ferrari on 165 and Mercedes on 159 points. Red Bull sits third on 144, Max Verstappen having contributed 137 of those.

The Dutchman is the nearest challenger to Norris and Piastri in the drivers’ standings, having taken victory in the Japanese and Emilia Romagna grands prix – the only non-McLaren successes of the season (Lewis Hamilton’s Chinese Sprint win aside).

Despite his team’s position at the top of both championships and the clear car advantage his squad enjoys, Norris remains wary of a potential threat.

“There’s still places where we’re vulnerable, and especially in qualifying it gets very close,” Norris warned.

“Obviously [in Spain] there was the biggest margin of the year, but I think people seem to quickly forget how close the other qualifyings have been; they’ve been split by hundredths and thousandths, and there hasn’t been smooth sailing for us in every single one.

“I think that will be the case in future ones,” he added.

“But it’s clear, we have the best car on average and we still seem stronger in the race, although it’s clear that the others are catching.

“Our gaps in the race are probably a lot bigger in the beginning of the year than they are now.

“I do think that our competitors are catching up. We just need to keep our heads down and keep working hard.”

More on McLaren from PlanetF1.com

👉 Valtteri Bottas reveals ‘next level’ McLaren F1 testing experience

👉 Oscar Piastri gave McLaren ‘homework’ after crushing Spanish GP performance

In Spain, Piastri led home a one-two result for McLaren, its third such result of the season. At least one McLaren driver has featured on the podium in all nine races is far in F1 2025 – and both of them on seven occasions.

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya result came against an undercurrent of whispered allegations against the MCL39.

A new Technical Directive was introduced by the FIA in Spain as the governing body looked to clamp further down on flexible wings, with some suggesting the McLaren was the greatest exponent of the practice.

That wasn’t reflected in the running order, with McLaren maintaining its position at the top of the standings.

In addition to allegations that the Woking squad has been exploiting flexi wing rules, it has been accused of a trick rear brake design and even putting water in its tyres.

The squad has never been found in breach of the regulations, with Zak Brown telling PlanetF1.com that his rivals are trying to “find a ghosts.”

“They can keep looking; there’s nothing to find other than the men and women and McLaren developed a really good race car. They’ve done a great job,” Brown said.

“There’s no silver bullet somewhere in the race car, but if teams think there are, and that’s where they want to spend their timing looking for it, hey, the more time they want to spend trying to find something that’s not there versus developing their own car, quite frankly, is a good use of their time as far as we’re concerned.

“It’s great people want to spend their time trying to find a ghost.”

Norris shared his team boss’s sentiment, paying tribute to the team back at base that developed the MCL39.

“The team are doing a very good job. We have a lot of good competition,” he said.

“There was a lot of complaints about our car, and they introduced this TD and nothing changed.

“The team have done a very good job to just give us a good all-around car, and the best car on the grid.

“We’re very proud to be able to go and drive these cars every weekend, so it’s credit to the team that we have to give day in, day out.”

Read next: McLaren boss Zak Brown underscores driver equality in title charge