Lando Norris has hit out at the media over its claims the 2025 championships are effectively McLaren's to lose.
While Red Bull appears to be on a downward spiral and the Prancing Horse is doing its usual of shooting itself in the hoof at every opportunity, Mercedes appears to be focussing on 2026, assuming the engine rules go through as planned.
Consequently, not forgetting the domination the team enjoyed in the latter stages of last year, McLaren are seen as favourites, leaving 'will it be Lando or Oscar' as the big question.
However, speaking in Suzuka, Norris has hit out at the media for assuming that the titles are as good as won.
"I think the people that say that, like the 'unbeatable' stuff is just nonsense, they just like to talk crap sometimes," the Briton told reporters. "I mean, it's your job as the media to figure out these things, I think, and not just listen to what everyone says and write what they say.
"You have to try and understand what they're saying and prove that what they're saying is a fact," he continued, "rather than I can just say a load of crap and you write it down.
"But it's up to you, I think, to get across the facts of what is true, and not just write nonsense that people like to say."
Admitting that on the evidence thus far the McLaren is the quickest car out there, it is "nice to say that", the 2024 runner-up, said: "I think just the fact we have two good drivers is obviously making the biggest difference.
"The fact that we have two good drivers pushing each other makes, I think, a bigger difference than people expect and take acknowledgement for.
"I also think between Oscar and myself, we both improved our own driving a lot," he added.
In terms of any advantage that the McLaren might enjoy, Norris is adamant that it is nowhere near the advantage enjoyed by Red Bull prior to the Woking team's upgrade in Miami last season.
"If we go back one year ago, Red Bull were still a lot further ahead than we are now," he said. "So I think we're doing a very good job and I feel like people are talking about us a lot more now.
"I think it's because of where we've come from over the last year and a half, the deficit we've come from," he added. "But the car Red Bull had at this time last year was a lot better than what we have now, compared to our competitors. So I think you have to take that into account."
In terms of the hunter becoming the hunted, he said: "We all feel good as a team, knowing that we have a strong car, not always the easiest car to drive, but a very strong car and the strongest car on the grid.
"The target, I think, is a nice thing, like, we're still new to it. I mean, Mercedes had it for like five, six years where they were the targets, so I think we've got a bit of time before we get to those kind of numbers, so for now, it's still like a motivating thing, so while we were at the front, we know that they're behind us, so it really pushes us.
"At some point it's only human that you start to get a little bit complacent with certain things, but I think for us we've pushed even more into this season, to start the season off on the right foot, ending with a very good year last year and we want to still try and increase our advantage more than what it is now.
So, yeah, it's a good thing for us and we know that people love to talk and just say random things and stuff, that's not true, but I hope that you guys are the ones that figure out, the people who talk crap and nonsense and figure out, you know, what the facts are of it."
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