Lately, Lando Norris has been in the news for his comments that lower expectations for McLaren right before race weekends. This has happened before, such as before the Hungarian GP and most recently before Spa. In this specific context, Norris has expressed concerns about a specific problem.
Norris has discovered that the McLaren Formula 1 car has a persistent weakness that has yet to be fixed, despite almost five years passing since its identification. However, the team’s fortunes changed significantly at the Austrian Grand Prix with the first part of a large set of upgrades that transformed the MCL60 following a sluggish start to the season. Since the upgrades, McLaren has scored 86 points over four Grand Prix weekends, including two consecutive podiums in Britain and Hungary. Despite the improvement in the car’s overall performance, Norris believes that the team must continue to work towards eliminating the prolonged weakness in their machinery.
Lando Norri talks about MCL60’s main weakness
During a recent interview, according to Racing 365, Lando Norris highlighted the primary flaw of the new McLaren car. Norris stated that despite the upgrade, the car’s performance and handling have not improved. He explained that driving the car remains challenging, and executing qualifying laps is still a difficult task.
He went on to talk about this prolonged problem and said “In the higher-speed corners, it is harder to make a mistake because the car is performing better – and we have made the car quicker although I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves as we’ve only had two weekends where we’ve been quick – but over the last five years, we have yet to make that step or improvement in slow speed handling and drivability.
“At no point have we gone: ‘Wow, the slow speed [performance] is strong, now let’s work on the high speed.’
“It has always been good in the high-speed and poor in the slow-speed.”
McLaren makes major upgrade on MCL60
The team was able to win the aforementioned podiums, only because its first set of changes which were used at the red bull ring. It involved a complete overhaul of the floor, sidepod, and engine cover. McLaren has introduced a “fully revised floor” that includes updated fencing, floor edge, and diffuser shape. The car’s mirrors and halo fairing have also been updated to improve airflow towards the rear of the car. The new engine cover shape has been tweaked to optimize cooling.
The primary focus of these changes is to enhance the car’s aerodynamic efficiency, which will enable it to generate more downforce without incurring a significant drag penalty. This lack of efficiency has not only affected lap times but has also hindered Norris and Piastri’s ability to compete with their rivals due to their car’s lack of top speed.
What do you think about McLaren’s comeback? and do let us know your thoughts on the issue pointed out by Norris in the comment section down below.
