Ferrari remain “a big threat” to McLaren in P3 F1 battle - Norris

The Briton continued his stunning start to the season by claiming fifth place for the third consecutive race at the Styrian Grand Prix to keep up his remarkable run of top-eight finishes so far this year.

Norris beat home former teammate Carlos Sainz and the recovering Charles Leclerc in Austria but believes Ferrari remains well in the fight over P3, which McLaren currently holds by 12 points.

“They are a little bit up and down,” Norris said of Ferrari’s form. “It is not like they’re in trouble at every race.

“Paul Ricard was particularly bad for them, but a lot of tracks will suit them more than us.

“They struggle in the straights still. But on the GPS they are one of the best in the corners, similar to Mercedes and Ferrari and a lot of corners. They are a big threat at the moment.

“We are still working hard, that is why we are not taking anything for granted at the moment,” he added. “We have to keep chipping away and improving the car because once they put it all together they can easily be ahead of us. It’s tough.

“Most of the time this year they have out qualified us, and they have been on pole two or three times. It shows that they have a very good car. As soon as they sort their problems in the race then they are flying.

"In some ways you would say they have a better car than us in certain scenarios and tracks and situations. Or we have a better car like yesterday, so we will see.”

Pirelli is moving one step softer with its tyre selections for this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, leaving Norris in the dark about whether the change will help or hinder McLaren’s performance.

“It depends on what the tyre situation is, if they suit us or hurt us a bit more I am not too sure,” he said.

“I want to say the more grip we have the better because that is where we are good in qualifying, when we have that grip and that stable rear, and the limits are not as exposed as easily.

“Today was awful, I was struggling with the rears and overheating the tires and things like that. It just feels terrible. That is when the difference in performance is huge.

“We will see, I don’t know if the tyres are going to help us or make it worse.”