Ferrari would be dominating F1 with better engine - Norris
Ferrari would be dominating Formula 1 if it had a better engine, and will "embarrass everyone" if it improves its power unit.
That's according to world champion Lando Norris, who finished third at the Barcelona Grand Prix, his McLaren 23.7 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari.
Ferrari was buoyed by the successful introduction of its eight-part upgrade package this weekend, giving it cornering performance that wowed many of its rivals.
"We're lucky that Ferrari doesn't have a better engine at the minute," Norris told Sky Sports F1 after the race.
"If they had a better engine, they're dominating. They're the class of the field in terms of cornering performance at the minute.
"We're not even close to them. It's the realistic point of it. We're a long, long way from where we need to be.
"If they make improvements on the engine side, then they'll embarrass everyone. We need to really get our heads down and see what improvements we can do."
The first ruling of F1's Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) system declared Ferrari's engine as being more than 4% off the benchmark (Red Bull Powertrains).
That means Ferrari will be allowed to make two upgrades this season to its engine and two more the following campaign.
Norris's team boss, Andrea Stella, was also impressed by the upgraded Ferrari.
"[Ferrari] were able to upgrade their car, they gained performance and now they lean on winning races and today they could capitalise," Stella said.
"So, definitely there is work [for McLaren] to do with the car performance."
He said Ferrari currently has "the best chassis" in F1.
"We see, especially in the medium speed corner, that Ferrari is the fastest in the corners, not necessarily the fastest in the straights," Stella explained.
"We see that, from a McLaren point of view, we are competitive in the high-speed corners, like corners 3, 9, and corner 14, but overall we struggle with grip in medium-speed and low-speed."
While Stella expects Mercedes to have the best car/power unit combination next time out in Austria, he expects Ferrari to remain "the fastest car in the corners".
