Lando Norris reveals McLaren DISASTER with old F1 issue coming back to haunt team

Norris voor de race op Barcelona-Catalunya — Photo: © LAT Images

Lando Norris

Norris reveals McLaren DISASTER with old F1 issue coming back to haunt team

Lando Norris is far from pleased with McLaren's set up

Matthew Hobkinson Lead Editor

F1 Editor & Journalist

Thursday 29 June 2023 15:27

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Lando Norris has revealed that McLaren are still struggling with the same issues that they had five years ago, as the Briton admitted that the car is "so painful" to drive at times.

It has been a season to forget for both McLaren and Norris. The 23-year-old has finished in the points on three occasions this year, with two of those seeing him take the chequered flag in ninth.

Norris has limped home in 17th during four races, the most disappointing of which no doubt came in Barcelona after lining up third on the grid for lights out.

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McLaren's struggles have somewhat caught many off guard this year, but for Norris, it appears to have come as less of a surprise after he insisted that the same issues keep on arising year after year.

Norris: 'This is a disaster for us'

"We struggle in corners," he said, as reported by Racefans.net. "Long corners are definitely a lot worse for us, high-speed corners are the best.

"High-speed corners, we’re actually very competitive. In high-speed we’re, I would say, close to being one of the best on the track. But the opposite on the slow-speed corners in a way.

“If you take the last sector in Barcelona, turn 10 and turn 12, this is a disaster for us. It’s so painful.

Lando Norris has struggled in the McLaren this season

“But it’s different things, it’s not just the fact it’s a long corner. It’s how you’re able to drive corners, how you’re able to release the brake, that we just don’t have. That’s just not good either.

“It’s not just that we’re missing 20 points of downforce on the front, 20 points downforce on the rear. It’s the actual handling, the characteristic of the car that we also need to fix in some ways.

“There are feelings I have in the car that we’ve had for the last five years and haven’t changed. So trying to understand all of these and actually make a difference, that’s also what we need if we want to compete and be a better team.”