Lando Norris has candidly admitted he has "not performed at the level of a world champion" thus far in the 2024 Formula 1 season.
The current campaign has been one of major breakthroughs for McLaren. It continued its upward trajectory from last year with its latest major upgrade package in May, which allowed it to start putting Max Verstappen and Red Bull under serious pressure with its rapid 2024 car.
That yielded a maiden grand prix win for Norris in Miami, and team-mate Oscar Piastri has since also broken his duck with a victory in Hungary, with McLaren outscoring the rest of the grid since then.
But, while Red Bull was faltering, several other chances for Norris and McLaren to capitalise on the reigning champion's up-and-down form curve went awry.
In Spain, Norris started from pole but a mediocre launch allowed Verstappen to pull ahead, while at Spa Norris slipped up at the start by going wide at La Source, seeing another win chance go begging.
In his trademark self-critical style, Norris said criticism he received from fans and media over some of his mistakes was largely justified, and conceded he hadn't performed at the consistent level required to battle Verstappen for the world championship.
"After the first half of the season, I've not performed at the level of a world champion - simple as that," Norris said ahead of this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.
"At certain times I have [performed] and many races I have done, but there have also been little things that just let me down along the way, and those are things I cannot afford to have.
"But I know that. I've shown in the past and over the last few races, I'm not happy when I've not been at the level I need to be at. That's just because I'm passionate and I want to win.
"We work hard to go out and do our best and not make mistakes and to try and win. And when we don't do that, as an athlete, we're not going to be happy. We're not going to be satisfied with our own job.
"And that's why I've not been happy with certain parts of the season and what I'm working very hard to try to improve."
After his Turn 1 error at Spa, right before the summer break, Norris admitted to needing a "reset" to weed out his "stupid" mistakes.
When asked about the conclusions he has drawn from that reflection period, he replied: "Still the same, really. Just things I've looked back on and learned from, but I'm fighting for a championship, so I'm not going to be happy if I'm not performing at the level that I need to do to beat Max, Red Bull and the other drivers that I need to be beating.
"I'm still very happy with how the season has gone, but I just made too many mistakes, too many points I have given away, which is not [what I need] if I want to fight for a championship against a driver like Max. So, there were many things that I've looked into and have to work on.
"There's not a single thing I need to change, but honestly the start and lap one are where most of my opportunities have gone away from me. From lap one onwards, generally, the races have been very strong and the race pace has been good."
Those missed opportunities mean Norris heads into the final stretch of the season 78 points behind Verstappen, who has been more consistently able to pick up results with a Red Bull that hasn't always been the quickest car anymore.
But, while Norris admitted taking the fight to the Dutchman in the drivers' standings would be a long shot, he was much more optimistic about McLaren overhauling the 42-point gap to Red Bull to take the team's first constructors' title since 1998.
"For the team, of course [the title is within reach] - that's a much more obvious one," he said.
"As a driver, of course, it is still in reach, but it's a lot of points and it's against Max. I want to be optimistic and say there are still chances.
"I know it's a lot and it's going to be a very difficult challenge but, with how we are performing and with how I know I can perform when things click, I still want to believe it's possible."
