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Lando Norris

Lando Norris makes bold McLaren admission after F1 struggles

Lando Norris is carrying strong momentum having won the previous two grands prix to eat into the points lead of team-mate Oscar Piastri.

Norris win Silverstone
Article
To news overview © 2025 Getty Images

Lando Norris has admitted he is still not as comfortable in his McLaren in 2025 as he was with the '24 car, despite the front suspension change.

Norris has been vocal at times in 2025 that his poor performances in qualifying have been down to a lack of feeling from the front of the car, especially in qualifying.

Such was the impact, a fresh upgrade to the front suspension was brought for the Canadian GP, although Oscar Piastri in the sister car is not using the parts as he does not think they add any performance. 

After crashing into Piastri in Montreal, the Australian's points lead expanded to 22, but Norris put in the best performance of his career in Austria to reduce that to 15 with a crushing win, before capitalising on Piastri's penalty at Silverstone to lead another one-two.

Analysing the impact of the new parts, Norris has explained how he is still not fully comfortable in the MCL39 compared to the feeling he enjoyed from last season's car.

"Honestly, it's even an answer I can't give to the team that clearly, if you ask me now, is it better or not? I can't give a definitive answer," Norris told media, including RacingNews365. 

"It's something that we believe might shift things in the right direction, that's how small a change it was. It wasn't like: 'We know this is going to help, it's going to do a better job,' it's also not a performance item. 

"It's not something that we've got and gone: 'Now we're going to be quicker.' It's something that might change how the feeling is to the steering and to the front suspension. 

"It's not where I can just go out and give a clean answer to the team. It's one where I’ve just got to have the confidence and belief in the team who have put it together and believe it's in the right direction to give me more or a better feeling, or more of a contrast in feeling. 

"I certainly felt more in Austria, but I also don't feel like I'm still back to the level necessarily that I was at last year with the feeling and understanding, but it's a complicated one at the same time because a lot of other things have changed too.

"I'm the last guy that will ever say: 'Guys, the car is just not good or isn't as good or whatever,' I never want to blame it from that perspective, but I certainly wasn't happy. 

"I made that clear to the team, and I think I was therefore in a position where the team got to work on their side, and I got to work on my side. Together, we made some improvements, and I'm happy with that so far."

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Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they look ahead to this weekend's F1 Belgian Grand Prix. Red Bull's new chapter is a major talking point following the arrival of Laurent Mekies, as is the fight for the drivers' title.

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