Lando Norris pushing McLaren to solve ‘fundamental’ issues with their F1 cars over chasing ‘quickest car’

Lando Norris’ current contract with McLaren runs until the end of 2026. It’s obvious that the Briton harbors ambitions to win the championship, but his current situation is a lot different than that. Last year, he was in a midfield car (and team) and could score only a single podium the entire season. But that’s still one more than any other driver not in the top three teams. Even this year, McLaren are likely to be a midfield challenger, even if they may challenge the top teams more.

Improvements are needed, and they’re needed quickly. There is one worrying sign, though. McLaren’s team principal, Andrea Stella, earlier said that the team are ‘not entirely’ happy with their 2023 challenger, dubbed the MCL60. But Norris has at least one thing going for him – he feels ‘maybe’ this year’s car will suit him better. That will obviously mean even better performances.

To him, improving performance outright is important, but to the Briton, it just as important for the car to be ‘better to drive’. So, he’s pushed the team in this direction. As per Autosport, he said: “There’s definitely been a little bit more of a push from my side from last year into this year to not just try to create the best car, or quickest car.”

Instead, he feels there was (and is) a need to change more ‘fundamental things’ which have given the Woking outfit some trouble during his time with McLaren. Norris added: “I believe for us to start taking the biggest steps, we needed to try and change some more fundamental things – some things that I think as a team we’ve struggled with for the past three or four years that I have been part of McLaren.”

Read More: “This year’s car is one,” Lando Norris hopes that McLaren’s 2023 F1 car is more suited to his driving style

Lando Norris: McLaren must figure out recurring ‘similar issues’ with F1 challengers

Daniel Ricciardo struggled with adapting to the characteristics of the McLaren car during his stint. This was cited as the main reason he could not perform for them – in either season. But at least in 2022, the car didn’t suit Norris much either. As he said in an interview with The Race, he had to force himself to ‘drive in a different way’ and that the MCL36 was ‘not an easy car to drive’. But even earlier, there were some issues with the cars that Norris pushed hard to eliminate.

He said: “That’s something I pushed pretty hard on last season, is to have these little things that just keep coming up with every different car. Whether it was a last era car or a [ground-effects] car, there’s some things which are very similar, which we weren’t able to understand or change much of. For my side, I just want to be able to figure those things out and unlock it and be able to not just have a car which is fast or whatever but have a car which is also better to drive in general and unlock a different balance.”

This approach should at least make the MCL60 a better car to drive, even if some performance may have been left on the table. But at the end of the day, it’s the speed of the car combined with the driver that will win races. McLaren’s fans will eagerly be awaiting Bahrain, to see if their team can take a step forward, in line with their ambitions to compete for the title in 2025.

In case you missed it:

• “First comparison is your teammate,” Oscar Piastri reveals key details about his rivalry with Lando Norris
• “We are not in a school,” Frustrated Lando Norris hits out at FIA’s ban on political statements 

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