Formula 1 is about to be back for the 2025 season and this week McLaren became the first team to get their single seater out on track with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri driving the car.
A 200 km shakedown for a filming day around Silverstone that gave us a first taste of the MCL39, while we wait for the livery to be revealed at the O2 Arena on the 18th.
First impressions
“They changed more than you might think when you look at the car, which is a cool thing,” a beaming Lando Norris told Sky Sports.
“I mean you are trying to improve in every area, right? You try to make it lighter, stronger, faster, more powerful, whatever it is.”
And judging from this first glimpse the step forward definitely seems to be there.
“I think every single piece on the car has been worked on and improved. Sometimes it all adds up to tiny things, but sometimes you talk about small margins at the same time.”
Learning from last season
McLaren comes from a rollercoaster of a season, in which they managed to change the course of things after a slow start and get in the battle with Red Bull and Max Verstappen.
Ultimately Lando Norris came second in the drivers standings, while McLaren – with a little help from Sergio Perez – won the Constructors’ Championship at the very last race.
When the season started they certainly weren’t considered the main opponent for the championship. They made their way quietly into a season that seemed destined to be contended among Red Bull and Ferrari.
Lando Norris made a first appearance on the podium in Australia, then replicated a few weeks later in China and later progressed to claim the first win only after 6 races, in Miami.
It was then that the title battle slowly began to shift until they secured the win, the first since 1998, despite Ferrari almost catching up with them in the closing stages.
“The amount of points we lost at the beginning of last season in the first 7 – 8 rounds was pretty shocking so to go on and win a championship from that was extraordinary.
“That’s why it was so special for us last year, but also for myself to come back from 50 points against one of the best, if not the best driver for a long time in Formula 1 and end up there with Lewis and Seb and those kind of guys and Fernando.”
Something that Norris hopes to prevent in the upcoming season, by preparing for a strong start.
“It’s never gonna be easy. It made my life way trickier than what it will be if I can start the season off on the right foot. So that’s our plan and I’m looking forward to getting cracking on that.”
A new mindset for the next
A season of might-have-beens, but also a season that made Norris grow as a driver heading into 2025 for a seventh campaign at McLaren.
Many argued throughtout the season that he was not yet ready to fight for a championship. Undoubtedly battling with a driver of the likes of Verstappen has helped him gain experience and given him the confidence to believe he can now be a real contender.
“I ended on a right note and I knew I needed to improve on some areas and some things, but I feel like I proved to myself that I got what it takes. You know when something clicks and you just feel like, ‘ok, I feel like I can do it now’.
“I don’t feel like I’m coming in with any overconfidence or arrogance.
“My whole life I’ve been telling myself that I can’t. It’s nice that I tell myself that I can for once and that the opportunity is there.
“I’m changing, I’m learning, I’m finding new ways to motivate myself and make myself feel correct. And one of those things is coming here going, ‘I can do it this year’. It’s probably better than telling myself than, ‘you are not gonna do it this year’.
“I’m coming in calm. I feel good and ready and I’m more prepared than ever. But I still know it’s gonna be a very tough year.”
