The slight 19-year-old says the driver aids carried on F1 cars have helped him adapt and play a key role in the green shoots of recovery appearing at McLaren.
"I feel more confident in this car, in Formula 1. Not just because I've done well, but even at the very start of the season," Norris said.
"It was very hard to put a lap together but I still felt more comfortable in this car than last year, in F1 compared to F2.
"Not because it's easy or anything, but I just have a better feeling for it."
He added: "I did suffer a lot since karting, with my size and everything, not really having a clue what to do when I started karting.
"So I suffered in every category: F4, F3, F2. Not so much F2 but I've had to kind of play catch-up quite a bit and in some ways, F1 was a bit nicer with power steering.
"F2's much harder physically on the arms and almost on the whole body than F1 is. So it can change, but I don't really mind."