McLaren driver Lando Norris has expressed a cause of frustration with F1's 2022 cars. While noting that the sport's new machines are fun to drive, Norris has pointed to them being challenging to defend with, especially after completing an overtake. His assessment comes following a regulation change that has seen the cars radically redesigned to promote better racing and more overtaking. But once overtakes are complete, it is proving difficult to keep the passed car behind, Norris has explained.
Norris: New cars are proving hard to keep behind
The opening two rounds of the new F1 season have seen plenty of overtakes, including at the front of the field, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Red Bull's Max Verstappen repeatedly trading places. The new regulations have been widely praised for how they have seemingly allowed cars to follow more easily, but they are not without negatives, according to Norris. "It's better for some things but it's worse in other [areas], because once you overtake, you can't just drop the guy behind as easily," he told the F1 Nation podcast. "It's good for [the viewer] but it's bad for the guy who's just overtaken, because [on] the next lap, it is a lot easier for the guy to get back past you."
Overhauled F1 regulations get drivers excited for battles
Despite his criticism, Norris remains a huge fan of F1's new regulations and feels they make racing more enjoyable for all. "It makes for a better show, and that's the whole part of it, it adds to the racing," Norris said. "I think it's just more fun, it makes it a lot more enjoyable for us. We're not going, 'Oh, we got a whole race of just sitting behind each other not doing anything'. "Now we can actually look forward to some good battles and you can have a chance to go forward as well, which is always nice."
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