Lando Norris has led the McLaren team in their bid to return to the top of the midfield with 76 of their 95 total points at Woking. In addition, the British garnered a creditable podium at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in a surprising weekend with the sprint format.
His teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, for his part, has not been able to match the young Englishman’s form, which has led the papaya team to consider terminating his contract to leave a gap for Oscar Piastri from next season 2023 .
The problems of the Australian, who is 12th in the general classification with the current McLaren car, are well known, but Norris has also experienced the difficulties of driving the MCL36, which has forced him to modify his driving on some occasions.
“I don’t think you can say in any way that the car is tailored to me,” the Briton told Motorsport.com ahead of the summer break. “Of what I want from the car, it is giving me the opposite now.”
“I would say the car I have is not at all what I want for my driving style, it’s kind of inappropriate for me,” Norris continued. “It’s not a bad thing, it just is what it is, and you have to adapt to it.”
“That’s why I feel like I’ve done a good job this year, I’ve adapted to something that isn’t exactly what I like or what I want. That’s one of the improvements I’ve made in recent seasons,” he said.
Lando Norris has a guaranteed seat at McLaren until the end of 2025 after the last renewal he carried out at the beginning of the course, which makes him a key part of the project. The Englishman explained that he was working on having “a little more voice” to help show the team “what they can do in the future and what I want from the car”.
“I’m giving my opinion, saying what I feel will help me go faster in the car,” he said. “Sometimes that’s a little bit different from what Daniel [Ricciardo] has, but overall we’re still together as a package that we want to improve on.”
“I’m having a little more voice, I don’t like to talk too much, because everyone has their own job and is a professional in their own thing,” Norris said. “Giving my opinion and talking a little bit I don’t mind, that makes me confident, and those things are always good.”
Daniel Ricciardo told Motorsport.com that he thought his team-mate was “doing a great job”, both on the track and making his presence felt a bit more off it: “People can see that he is driving very, very well.
“I think that gives him confidence, and that reflects off the circuit, I think the way he runs the team has been for that reason,” said the Australian. “I think he’s growing up, showing another kind of confidence, but also with that touch of maturity.”
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