Lando Norris reveals major McLaren F1 flaw ahead of 2024 season

Lando Norris in Texas — Photo: © LAT Images

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Norris reveals major McLaren F1 flaw ahead of 2024 season

The young F1 star enjoyed a superb 2023 season for McLaren

Matthew Hobkinson Lead Editor

F1 Editor & Journalist

Thursday 28 December 2023 10:57

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Lando Norris has admitted that he was never quite sure how his McLaren would behave on a race weekend, something that he believes has helped him evolve as a Formula 1 driver.

After a dismal start to the season, the MCL60 was the beneficiary of a serious string of upgrades to rocket it towards the front of the grid.

Norris and his team-mate, Oscar Piastri, went from languishing at the back of the pack to regularly challenging for podiums virtually overnight.

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It might therefore leave fans thinking that Norris and Piastri would be delighted to get into their cockpit with every passing grand prix.

Lando Norris (L) and Oscar Piastri (R) will continue to race with McLaren in 2024

The pair proved to be very competitive for McLaren this season

Yet the Briton has now revealed that he was never quite sure what he was going to contend with as he got behind the wheel.

Norris not comfortable with McLaren

“I’m still not super comfortable every weekend on [thinking], ‘the car is going to do this this weekend and it does that’, half the time it doesn’t,” he told Motorsport.com.

“So then I’m sort of like, ‘Okay, now I need to drive it a bit more like this’ and all of these things.

The MCL60 enjoyed the benefits from a raft of upgrades throughout the season

“Formula 1 I think is often always too shortly judged. If one driver has two good weekends in a row they’re like ‘Oh, he’s back’. But the next weekend then it’s gone again and it’s [the opposite].

“So, I think I’ve always had some good races every now and then, but when I look at it as a season, on ‘out of all of these races’, a lot more consistently I was delivering on the Sunday.

“No matter the conditions, no matter if it was hot or cold or if the car was really quick or struggled a bit more, or if the set-up was where I wanted it or where it wasn’t, if I started at the front or the back – I could always kind of make the most of whatever situation I was in.

“And I think that’s the thing I’ve improved on this year. [It] was being able to adapt even more to all of these different scenarios and different conditions that challenge you.”

McLaren Lando Norris Formula 1 Oscar Piastri