McLaren have confirmed that Lando Norris will have to adapt to the MCL39, despite the car not suiting his driving style.
On Thursday, Norris revealed that McLaren’s 2025 challenger did not suit his attacking driving style, but has accepted that he must tailor himself to the car’s characteristics.
The Brit began his 2025 Formula 1 campaign with a win at the Australian GP, and it was clear that the reigning constructers champions had the fastest car on the grid.
Team mate Oscar Piastri was on track to make it a perfect weekend for the Woking based team, but the Australian had to settle for P9, after spinning onto the grass.
In China, McLaren are having a less straightforward weekend, with Friday’s Sprint Qualifying session seeing Piastri finish in P3, with Norris down in P6.
McLaren not risking a ‘slower car’
McLaren have confirmed that they will not change their car to suit Norris’ aggressive approach, as it ‘may well’ make the the MCL39 slower.
Technical Director of Engineering, Neil Houldey, said: “We just try and generate the fastest car that we possibly can.
“If we focused on trying to make the car work for his driving style, then we may well end up with a slower car.
“I think so far it looks like we’ve taken the right route, and luckily Lando is awesome enough to cope with that and change his driving style to suit.”
There is often a lot of talk around whether or not a certain design philosophy suits a certain driver.
At Red Bull, it is clear that their car is wholly centred around Max Verstappen and his desires, which has led to huge struggles for whoever his team mate is.
Liam Lawson is the latest victim of the Red Bull second seat, and was eliminated from SQ1 on Friday, subjecting him to a back of the grid start for the Sprint Race.
McLaren have clearly decided to take a different approach, simply creating the fastest car they possibly can, and trusting that their drivers have the ability to adjust.
Norris adapting ‘pretty well’
McLaren CEO Zak Brown was keen to sing the praises of his championship leading driver, and felt that Norris had coped well with the new car.
We have some innovations on the car that give it a different feel, so clearly Lando did adapt to it pretty well in Australia,” Brown said.
“I’m sure he’s still getting used to it.
“(The car) is clearly very quick, but when you get it up on its nose, so to speak, and you’re flinging it around, then the drivers want to make it a little bit more compliant.
“We are trying to get it more compliant, but we certainly don’t want to make it slower.”
