Lando Norris says he isn’t waiting for McLaren’s planned upgrades to solve the difficulties he is having with the team’s latest car.
However he admitted his team mate Oscar Piastri has adapted more easily to the MCL39. Piastri scored his third grand prix victory of the season at the last round and took the lead of the championship from Norris, who still only has a single victory to his name this year.
Norris, who qualified sixth and 10th at the last two rounds, said there are small details in the car’s handling he needs to get to grips with.
“There are just certain things which don’t allow me to feel what I need to feel,” he explained ahead of this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix. “Those things are what allow me to drive to the level that I can drive at, to get pole positions and to drive at the highest level in racing.
“We’re talking about small things, it’s not like it’s impossible to drive all of a sudden. It’s just, when we’re talking about qualifying, split by hundredths of a second, thousandths of a second, that’s what I’m complaining of and nothing more than that.”
Norris suspects Piastri is “maybe more naturally able to adapt” to the changes to their car since last year. “I also think it’s a driver’s job to adapt to whatever car they get given.
“But there’s compromises. The team are also there to try and help you get the most out of the car. It’s clear there have been some changes and whether it’s just suited Oscar or Oscar’s able to do it a better job at adapting, then that’s not for me to kind of know or try and figure out or waste my time on.
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“For me, it’s obviously hurt me a little bit more and I’m not being able to perform at the level that I was at the end of last season, which I think is the best level that I have been at.”
McLaren have said some upgrades they have planned for their car in future races should help Norris regain his confidence. Norris said “I certainly think it will help” when they arrive but he is still working to improve in the meantime.
“I don’t honestly know the exact timeline of things, there’s also a mixture of things that will probably slowly come and be implemented over time,” he said.
“I also don’t want to just rely on that myself. There’s also things I’m trying to work on separately and hopefully that’s a better fix than waiting for the bits to come.
“But it’s good that we’re working as a team and the team are working hard to try and understand these things because it’s been clear that there have been some differences from last year in how the car works and how it acts and then how I’m able to get lap time out of it and perform.
“So there’s a mixture of things, but I’m confident. I have to be a little bit patient with certain things, some things are bigger than others, it takes time some of these things so I’ll just keep my head down.”
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