LANDO Norris is as quick as seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and current championship leader Max Verstappen, according to McLaren chief executive Zak Brown.
The Glastonbury racer is enjoying his best Formula 1 season, having gained his maiden pole position at the Russian Grand Prix and secured his best-ever race finish in Italy.
Norris is sitting in fifth in the Drivers’ World Championship ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
He is one point behind Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Pérez, who will be racing at his home circuit this weekend.
Pérez’s Red Bull teammate, 24-year-old Max Verstappen, is leading the championship by 12 points from Lewis Hamilton with five races remaining.
Bristol-born Norris, who grew up in Glastonbury, became Britain’s youngest-ever F1 driver in 2019.
Speaking to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, Brown said: “Lando first came on my radar in 2014.
"I think he can be counted among the best drivers now.
“He’s on the level of Verstappen and Hamilton.
“Maybe not in terms of experience, but definitely in terms of speed.”
The 21-year-old driver believes he could “give Max a run for his money” in more equal machinery.
Norris told formula1news.com: “There are just different scenarios and situations where experience comes into play, and you think, ‘maybe he would have the upper hand on me in that scenario’.
“I believe he is one of the best drivers ever in Formula 1.
“I think he has proven that since he joined when he was 16 or 17 years old.”
Brown's McLaren team is clinging onto third place in the Constructors’ World Championship with a 3.5-point advantage over Ferrari.
Norris is expecting a difficult battle against the resurgent Italian team boosted by an upgraded engine package.
“We are motivated, we're working hard but I think it's tough,” he said.
“It's hard to know where you're going to be every weekend because it's always generally been very close, even since the beginning of the season.
“It's not like we've run away with it at any point.
“It's been close since the beginning of the season, but it's tense.”
He added: “We're working hard, everyone back in the factory is working hard to try and find these last little things we need for the rest of the season.
“But Ferrari are strong, you've got to give it to them.
“They've come on very strong in the second half of the season and especially the last few weekends.
“So, we're putting up a fight, and we can definitely bring it to them to the end. That's the plan.”
However, Norris could be forced into taking a grid penalty in Mexico – or at a later race – if he changes his power unit.
Four teams in F1 use Mercedes engines in their cars (Mercedes, McLaren, Aston Martin and Williams) – and all of their drivers except Norris and Aston Martin's Lance Stroll are yet to use a fourth internal combustion engine this season.
Teams are allowed to use three power units in their cars across the season without incurring a penalty.
Norris’s teammate Daniel Ricciardo took his fourth internal combustion engine of the season in Turkey which, along with ancillary parts, gave him a back-of-the-grid penalty for the race.
Norris has said conversations are “ongoing” between McLaren and Mercedes regarding a decision to install a new internal combustion engine in his car.
If he takes a new engine, but does not change additional components, he will only be required to take a 10-place penalty.
He said: "There's not long left but whether we take one before the end of the season has yet to be decided.
"It will be a discussion that goes on until the end of the season."
Hamilton won the last race held in Mexico in 2019 after last year’s race was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The circuit’s high altitude – it is 2,200 metres above sea level – is expected to favour Red Bull’s Honda engine and aerodynamic set-up.
Read more: Lando Norris: Why the McLaren driver’s first F1 win is just around the corner
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