“Doesn’t suit at all,” Lando Norris makes big confession over McLaren’s 2025 car

McLaren had a great start to the 2025 season last weekend. The reigning world champions were quicker than the rest of the grid throughout the weekend. With Lando Norris defeating arch-rival Max Verstappen to clinch victory at Albert Park. However, the British driver does not seem to be fully content with the way things have started at the Woking-based team.

The McLaren MCL39 is arguably the fastest car on the current grid. The 2025 McLaren challenger has built upon its predecessor which was seemingly the quickest car last year. This allowed Norris and his teammate Oscar Piastri to lock out the front row at Albert Park on Saturday.

However, Lando Norris has now confessed that the MCL39 does not suit his driving style at all. Though, the British driver has accepted the fact that he would have to drive cars which really are not in accordance with his way of driving. This makes things more tricky for the 25-year-old as he fights in a close battle up front.

Norris acknowledged that the F1 cars might suit the driving style of some. Yet, the McLaren star has reached the point in his career where he stops demanding the car to be tailored to his needs. Rather, the five-time race winner is more willing to work with whatever he is given to race with.

Lando Norris digs up old McLaren car struggles

In the past few years, McLaren has never really had the easiest cars to drive. This was a major reason for Daniel Ricciardo‘s terrible stint at the Woking-based team when he joined in 2021. Ultimately, the Australian driver lost his edge during this stint and decided to leave at the end of 2022, a year earlier than his contract.

Lando Norris recalled that McLaren is unique in this regard. He pointed out that the team does have strengths and weaknesses. However, over the years, whenever a driver has changed teams, they have opened up about how difficult the cars were to drive at the British team. Norris mentioned Daniel Ricciardo as well as his previous teammate Carlos Sainz.

On the other hand, the British driver has grown accustomed to the machinery. He has stayed at McLaren ever since his F1 debut and never driven cars from rival teams. Norris made it clear that he doesn’t worry too much about the driving style, and simply focuses on fighting for wins.

Is Lando Norris the title favorite for 2025?

The British driver won his first-ever race in Formula 1 in Miami last year. This paved the way for an ambitious title challenge against reigning world champion Max Verstappen. The two drivers clashed on-track on a number of occasions. However, it was Verstappen who defeated the McLaren driver and claimed a fourth title in a row.

This time around, Norris has an advantage over the Dutch driver from round 1. This has allowed the Briton to topple Verstappen from the first spot in the standings for the first time since 2022. However, Lando Norris will need to keep pushing to ensure that he doesn’t give the Red Bull driver any chance of gaining momentum.

The 25-year-old might have the best car at the moment, but he needs to stay calm and keep getting the maximum at every race. If Lando Norris can manage to bag a handful of victories in the first half of the season without making any mistakes, he would have the upper hand against Max Verstappen and even Oscar Piasrtri.

Though, it is too early to tell whether Norris can this year. For now, it seems that the cards are indeed stacked in the favor of the McLaren star. It remains to be seen how things pan out in the coming races.

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