at the start of the season, despite only clinching its first win at
round seven. Lewis Hamilton secured his maiden victory for the
Italian team in Barcelona earlier this month as he continued his
strong run of form in the opening phase of the campaign. The season
has largely been dominated by Mercedes, who enjoyed a six-race win
streak prior to Hamilton’s victory. Ferrari introduced a
significant car upgrade in Barcelona, which helped lift it into the
mix with Mercedes – but Norris insisted the car was already in
competitive shape prior to the installation of new parts. “I don’t
think they [Ferrari] have made a lot of progress since the
beginning of the year,” Norris told media including RacingNews365 .
“They were one of the best teams the whole season so far. They’ve
certainly made progress. “They weren’t on pole in Barcelona, so
it’s still clear that the Mercedes is probably all-around the best
car.” Ferrari will field an upgraded power unit this weekend in
Barcelona as it seeks to address a key weakness in its arsenal.
Should the new engine prove successful, Norris stated Ferrari could
shift closer to the “favourite” tag. “I don’t know how much the
engine upgrade is going to help them this weekend, but it’s clear
that the biggest time loss is the straights,” he said. “Probably
half of it is power. “A good amount of it is drag, and the fact
that they’re better in the corners is also because they’re a little
bit more draggy in the straights. “They have the ability to make a
big step with the engine to easily become the favourites. But
they’ve been good the whole season, so it’s not like they’ve
suddenly turned up and stepped up. “They’ve had one of the best
cars, if probably not the best car in a lot of places so far, but
they’ve been losing out quite a bit from the power unit. “They
were already title contenders, it’s not really a question of ‘are
they now?’ “They have been the whole season.”