Lando Norris has confessed that he found himself in a challenging space at the start of the 2023 F1 season, grappling with the early setbacks and underperformance of McLaren’s MCL60.
The Woking-based team had a disappointing start to their season, failing to score any points and finding themselves at the bottom of the standings after the first two races.
However, things started to turn around for McLaren in the early part of 2023. They managed to score points in three out of the first eight events, including a strong finish in Melbourne where they secured double points.
The team’s performance took a significant leap forward when they introduced new updates from Austria onwards. Their progress was remarkable, and by the end of the season, they had climbed up to fourth place in the Constructors standings, surpassing Aston Martin.
Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri played a crucial role in McLaren’s success. They achieved a total of nine top-three finishes throughout the remainder of the year, with Piastri even securing his first F1 victory in the Qatar Sprint race.
Despite the team’s slow start, Norris considers 2023 to be his best season in F1 so far. He reflected on the close calls they had for victory and his impressive string of six second-place finishes in the last six or seven races, all behind Max Verstappen and no other drivers.
“So in all those instances where something could have gone wrong, we were actually in a perfect position.
“When I reflect on my race in Brazil, I consider it to be one of my best. Although it may not seem eventful, I had a significant lead over everyone else, with only one car ahead of me. It was a pretty solid race. And Mexico was also a great race for me, going from 17th to fifth place.
“I believe I have performed at my best in terms of overall performance, although maybe not at the beginning of the year.
“I’ve put in a lot of effort to adapt to this car because it’s not an easy one to handle. There are still challenges every weekend, but during the first part of the season, I wasn’t in the right mindset.
“While McLaren has made an impressive turnaround, the fundamental characteristics of the MCL60 design have remained the same. This means I still have to adjust to the specific traits of my car.”
The Briton continued, expressing how different his desire to drive quickly is from how the car wants to be driven. It’s a constant adjustment for him to adapt his driving style to suit the car’s needs.
However, he has noticed a change in his confidence level since the halfway point of the season. He feels like he’s been able to extract the maximum performance from the car, especially in races.
Norris believes that McLaren has the potential to develop a car that aligns better with his driving style. While he admits to making a few mistakes in qualifying, he feels that he has had some of his best races this year, which is a testament to the team’s progress.
As he has mentioned before, Norris has faith in McLaren’s ability to turn things around. This year has been crucial for them to prove themselves, and he believes they have done a great job so far.
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