In less than three weeks from now, Lando Norris will start his fifth season as a Formula One driver. All of them have been with the McLaren team.
The Brit finished P7 in the Drivers’ Championship last year, and the 23-year-old was the only driver outside the top three teams to score a podium finish.
McLaren’s performance in 2022 fell away compared to 2021, and they could only manage P5 in the Constructors’ Championship as Alpine beat them to P4.
Speaking to media outlets yesterday when the MCL60 was unveiled, Norris spoke about pushing the engineers more to try and make it easier for the drivers to be quick and consistent.
In recent years the team has delivered some solid machinery for their drivers, but there has been unique characteristics with the cars that has made them extremely tricky to drive.
“Personally I worked on it a lot last season – from pushing [on] my side to the team,” said Norris. “Every driver wants a car which is just quick, and I think that has always been the goal the last few years.
“Personally as a driver, I spend a bit more time to try and go through things with the engineers, to give them the understanding of maybe a little bit more of what we struggle with in terms of a balance and how the car acts through the corners.
“And maybe some traits which we have not been able to necessarily change too much, adapt or improve over the last few years.
“I think this year there has been a bit more of a push on that. I’m not just letting the guys trying to do the best with making a quick car, but also one that is a little bit more to my liking.”
Norris emphasised that the 2021 and 2022 cars were not tailored towards him, and he spoke on how both Daniel Ricciardo and himself gave the same feedback to the team about the traits of the car that limited them on track.
He is hoping that changes this year as he lines up alongside Oscar Piastri.
“Even though I have been with McLaren for the last four years, it’s not like the car is made for me in anyway more than it was for Daniel [Ricciardo], and it was the same for the first few years,” Norris stated.
“Maybe this year’s car is one which can suit me more. But when I say suit me, it’s also to make the car quicker in general. It’s not something just to suit me personally as a driving style.
“These similar traits, it’s something that Daniel and myself complained of a huge amount. Hopefully this year we can take a step forward with that and help us go quicker as a car and as a team.”
Photos: McLaren Racing
