Ahead of the start of the 2023 season, Zak Brown talked about McLaren running late on some major targets. That makes it clear that the car they are currently running is not the final product they intended to compete with. The shortcomings are even more pronounced on the track and the results don’t lie. Lando Norris finished P17 in the season opener while Oscar Piastri DNF’d. The misery continued for the Briton in Jeddah with the same result, giving birth to an unwanted statistic that has left fans questioning the Papaya team’s ability to redeem themselves.

Soon after the season opener in Bahrain, some rumors started floating around about potential destinations away from McLaren for Norris. That was because McLaren has seen a constant slump in the last few years. Moreover, the result in Bahrain made it clearer that the problem wasn’t going away any time soon. The entire situation has raised a big question about the team CEO’s leadership skills.

The unwanted Lando Norris statistic that left fans demanding answers from McLaren

Norris joined F1 in 2019 and has ever since then, made a name for himself for delivering consistent performances. While he hasn’t won a race until now, he also, until the start of the current season, did not finish lower than P15. Come 2023 and he finished P17 twice in a row. That is definitely a stat that neither the Briton nor team McLaren would like to see.

The statistic, shared on a Reddit thread, left fans slamming the Papaya team. Take a look at some reactions from the original post on Reddit.

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“They got all those sponsors just to build a tractor”

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“HEY MCLAREN! STOP TRYING TO BE A MOTORSPORT BRAND ACROSS ALL FIELDS AND FOCUS ON YOUR MAIN TWO! AND STOP TRYING TO TAKE P1 FOR MOST SPONSORSHIP STICKERS! WE DONT CARE ABOUT YOUR COOL VAPE SPONSOR! WE WANT LANDO TO GET HE FIRST RACE F-ING WIN!!!!!!!!!!”

“If the Baku upgrade doesn’t work enough as Mclaren are hoping I think rumors will intensify about Norris’ future at the team”

“I can’t believe how bad the McLaren is this year. Everyone is talking about the least Aston have made and how Merc have fallen back, but people seem to be giving McLaren a pass for the absolute dogshit car because they’ve said it’ll get better at Baku. I really hope it does, but I don’t see how they can turn around such a big deficit (especially with other teams bringing upgrades too).”

“He’s battling with the rookies. McLaren gotta step it up.”

“They were showing promise after Alonso kicked them into shape and left, peaked with Ricciardos win at Monza, after they failed to change tyres FTW at Russia its really just been a downhill spiral….”

“His car is so slow he’s still running around the track on Monday trying to finish the race distance”

“Mercedes – “We have a shitbox cause now we can’t even get podiums” Ferrari – “Well we have it worse, cause now even top 5 is difficult.” McLaren – “Must be nice to finish in the points””

“at least the McLaren gets to see the frontrunners whenever they lap them.”

“To be honest I think at the time it was the right move to ink that deal, McLaren was in the up, it seemed like they are going to get there. I think the Baku upgrade will be crucial, if that doesn’t work Norris is in a tough place. Lewis could retire but I guess that would also mean Mercedes isn’t competitive, RB and Ferrari are only potentially looking for a second driver. His hope could be Audi.”

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Do you think the upgrades ahead of the race in Baku will prove worth their wait? Or has McLaren really missed the train and any chance of redemption for the season?