McLaren driver Lando Norris believes that upgrades to the disappointing MCL60, for this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, in Baku, will give the team the car they should have had at the start of the Formula 1 season in Bahrain.
The former F1 champions drew a blank in the first two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia after admitting they had missed development targets. read more
Things improved in Melbourne at the beginning of April, when Norris finished sixth and Australian rookie Oscar Piastri eighth, and Baku brings the first major package of performance improvements.
Norris told reporters in Baku: “I think we were unlucky, which made things look worse than they were in the first few races. I think what we have this weekend is just the baseline we should have started the year with, and it’s about understanding what we have now.
“It’s a better baseline. There’s more room for opportunities and more room for improvements with what we have. So it’s definitely going to make us take a small step forward,” predicted Norris.
McLaren are fifth overall, four points clear of Renault-owned Alpine, who looked fast in Australia before both cars collided after the third and final standing start and retired.
Alpine also have an upgrade package for Baku, which hosts the first sprint weekend of the season and first using a new standalone format. That will mean two qualifying sessions. On Friday and Saturday.
“I think it’s a better format. I prefer it a long way compared to what we had before… you have more room, more opportunities for everyone. I like the fact that you have two qualifying. I love the format of practice, qualifying on Friday. So the pressure is definitely higher. But yeah, I enjoy it more,” added Norris. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin)
Coming online 🔜. We took Lando and Oscar on a tour of our new state-of-the-art wind tunnel housed at the McLaren Technology Centre.
Another step forward in our mission back to the front. 👊🧡 pic.twitter.com/FOK3LN5KFj
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) March 28, 2023