Norris: I don't need rear tyres, all I need is front

McLaren were banking on the 2022 Formula 1 regulations to make a breakthrough into the top three, but after some promising early signs during pre-season testing, the team fell short of their targets and end up fifth in the Constructors' Championship behind Alpine, one place worse than 2021 when they were fourth.

After finishing the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix sixth, Norris explained his problems with the MCL36, he said: "It’s just our car. So, the characteristics of the car… when I have enough front, for me its front, all I need is front in my car.

"I don’t need rear tyres," Norris claimed. "When I have front, we can be quick. We know we can perform well like [in qualifying in Abu Dhabi] and [in the race] when I put on a set of new tyres, we were very quick.

"But we just kill the tyres within like five, six laps and as soon as we destroy the front tyres we are seconds off," the Briton lamented.

"We are half a second, one second off," Norris pointed out. "So, it’s just the characteristic, what the car relies on too much.

"But we know all of this. We’ve known it. It’s something we’ve had for years, sadly, and it’s our job to get rid of that for next season," the 23-year-old insisted.

Norris might have struggled with the characteristics of his MCL36, but was still able to score points in 16 occasions in 2022, finishing the season seventh in the Drivers' Standings while former teammate Daniel Ricciardo was 11th.

The Australian, now back at Red Bull as a third driver, has struggled to deal with the McLaren machinery ever since he joined the team in 2021, and was beaten consistently by Norris throughout the two seasons in which they shared the McLaren garage, hence his exit one year earlier from his contract expiry date.

Formula 2 Champion Oscar Piastri replaces Ricciardo at McLaren in 2023, and it would interesting to see how he fares against Norris.