Lando Norris revealed that McLaren's upgrade package introduced at the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was a step forward, but not enough to go higher than his ninth-place finish.
McLaren brought a raft of upgrades for their MCL60 over the Formula 1 weekend in Baku, and it seems to have delivered some improvement as Lando Norris qualified seventh for Sunday's Grand Prix, teammate Oscar Piastri tenth.
That turned into tenth and 11th in the Sprint Shootout for Norris and Piastri respectively, and while both drivers failed to score points in the Sprint Race, Norris finished Sunday's Grand Prix ninth, Piastri just missing out on points in 11th.
Norris spoke of his race in Baku and reflected on a badly-timed Safety Car that was sent out just after he pitted for fresh tyres, meaning he was at a disadvantage.
"[It] didn’t make a difference really," Norris said of the Safety Car timing, quoted by F1's Official Website. "I would have finished P9 either way.
"Just a tough race, long, sat behind the cars with our straight-line speed, and just with quite a short DRS zone. Not just for us, but everyone [it was] just very, very difficult to overtake," he added.
Baku nature helped McLaren
"We did the best we could," the Briton insisted. "Ninth is all we can achieve at the minute. I try and go with the guys ahead and one lap later the tyres go off a cliff. It’s a challenge. We are little bit closer, this track has definitely helped us, but we will see how we are in Miami."
As for McLaren's upgrades, Norris doesn't feel that they were a breakthrough, just a small improvement that cannot be felt from within the cockpit.
"[It] doesn’t feel any different inside the car but it is a step forward," he pointed out. "I’m just being honest with it. Everyone will probably say ‘yeah it felt mega’ but you don’t feel it. It’s such a small amount in every corner, the oversteer is a little bit less.
"It’s a step forward in terms of like efficiency, also a little bit. We weren’t expecting a bit step, and like we said Baku was not the track where we will show its potential.
"Miami we will maybe understand a bit more, and some of the high-speed corners, because that was more where it was aimed at," the McLaren driver concluded.
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