Norris warns MCL39 has more to give – but not everywhere
Australian Grand Prix winner Lando Norris says the season’s calendar will bring circuits that test the limits of McLaren’s car, but there will also be venues where the MCL39 will shine even brighter than it did in Melbourne.
McLaren made a statement at Albert Park by clinching victory with Norris and confirming their impressive pre-season pace.
The MCL39 shone in changeable conditions, as both the Briton and teammate Oscar Piastri pulled ahead rapidly once the track dried.
Norris built an 18-second lead over Max Verstappen’s Red Bull within just 26 racing laps before a Safety Car deployment following Fernando Alonso’s crash.
Such dominance has sparked concerns among McLaren’s rivals that the Woking-based team may be on course to control the season. However, Norris remains cautious about expecting repeat performances on every track.
A Balanced Outlook: Strengths and Weaknesses Ahead
After last Sunday’s race, Norris offered a candid assessment of McLaren’s prospects when asked if he expects McLaren to struggle on certain circuits.
“I do, but I think we’ll have both. I think we’ll have tracks where we will be even better, and I think we’ll have a couple where we’ll struggle,” Norris said.
This duality reflects McLaren’s progress with the MCL39, which Norris believes is a more versatile machine than its predecessors.
“We’ve definitely made our car much more balanced across all types of circuits – high speed, low speed, high downforce, low downforce. We’re competitive at most,” he explained.
However, Norris didn’t shy away from pinpointing potential trouble spots.
“We were good last year, especially in the second half of the season, but Vegas was woeful. In fact, we were shocking.
“There are other tracks along those lines where we did struggle quite a bit. But these low grip tracks like Vegas, we really struggled. It highlighted our issues with the front of the car – the graining, the lack of rotation.
“We know that, though. We know where we’re going to struggle.”
This self-awareness suggests McLaren is already targeting those weaknesses, but Norris isn’t banking on overnight fixes.
Identifying Potential Weak Spots
Norris singled out Bahrain as a track that could prove tricky for McLaren, despite its strong pre-season showing there.
“Even in Bahrain a couple of weeks ago, we came out confident, but everyone was hyping us up a lot,” he noted. “Mainly just because our high-fuel pace was very strong.
“But on low fuel, we were struggling. We were not as quick as some of the others. Even if we took all our fuel out and max the engine mode, I don’t think we would have been quicker.
“We know we have work to do. If we raced in Bahrain again, I wouldn’t be confident we could win the race.”
Optimism for China and Beyond
Looking forward, Norris is buoyed by McLaren’s prospects for the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix, a Sprint weekend that follows hot on the heels of Australia.
His confidence is rooted in last year’s performance at Shanghai, where Norris split the dominant Red Bull cars despite driving the less competitive MCL38.
“I’m confident that when we go to China next weekend, we can be very strong, because we were strong there last year with not a very good car,” he said.
The combination of realism and confidence reflects Norris’ balanced outlook as the team prepares for the next round of the championship.
While there are tracks that may pose a challenge, the Brit remains hopeful that McLaren’s improvements will continue to pay dividends on circuits that play to the MCL39’s strengths.
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