Lando Norris was asked whether he had any hope that the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal could mean a turnaround for McLaren in the 2023 Formula 1 season. He seems disillusioned when he replies: “To be honest, we don’t have a way to go.”
The Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona showed that once again. McLaren left the track, which has been used as a benchmark for years, with great disappointment and without any World Championship points. “The pace just wasn’t there,” says Norris.
He becomes clear: “Even if I had led the race after turn 1, there would only have been a small chance of points. We simply have more problems in the race than in qualifying.”
“I don’t know the reasons for that. But Ferrari is also better on Saturdays than on Sundays. Our car is just miles away from the pace on Sunday, so I don’t expect easy races until we have new parts on the car.”
Norris: The MCL60 has many weaknesses, not just one
But what exactly needs to be corrected on the MCL60 is the big question. The car does not have one major weakness, says Norris, but many deficits. Basically, McLaren has, for example, “problems in the corners” and “long corners only make it worse,” explains Norris.
“Only fast corners are good for us. We even look pretty competitive there. With a lot of downforce and with little downforce and at high speeds we’re among the front runners. In slow corners exactly the opposite happens. Turns 10 and 12 in Barcelona for Examples were a disaster for us. And that hurts.”
The handling of the MCL60 is “simply not good,” Norris continues. “It’s not just missing 20 downforce points front and rear.”
Is one update enough to iron out all the bugs?
And the tire budget is also expandable. In Barcelona, McLaren improved significantly on the first lap with fresh tires. “But on the second lap with fresh tires we were slower than on the first lap! We have to understand all of that and then correct it,” says Norris. “That’s what we need if we want to get better as a team.”
Can the intended next major McLaren update cure so many “diseases” at once? Norris wants to wait and see: “I haven’t tried the new parts in the simulator yet, so I really don’t know what the impact will be.”
“But we’re working hard on everything, not just aerodynamics. Because in modern Formula 1, it’s not just about how much downforce you have. There are so many things that need to be balanced in order for you are fast.”
get through somehow
Until then, it is up to him and his teammate Oscar Piastri to do what they can with a stubborn car and to tell the engineers their impressions. “Because it’s incredibly difficult to figure out why,” says Norris. McLaren is currently still groping in the dark when it comes to researching the causes.
“But we can do it,” says Norris. “There is clear evidence that we have already taken good steps in the right direction. It shows at the factory. So it’s definitely looking better, we have hope. But it still takes patience.”