Lando Norris has detailed how an honest post-race discussion with McLaren in Singapore helped propel him to a dominant win in Formula 1‘s Mexico City Grand Prix.
Norris had not triumphed in a single race since the summer break heading into last weekend, but he proved untouchable around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
The Briton picked up pole position with a six-tenth gap to his struggling team-mate Oscar Piastri and then converted that into an emphatic 30-second winning margin.
Despite reclaiming the championship lead with his supreme showing, Norris hasn’t gelled with McLaren’s current machine like he did with its predecessor, the MCL38.
Norris has been candid throughout the 2025 season about the struggle he has experienced adapting to the MCL39’s less responsive front end over a single timed lap.
That is a situation that was revisited last month as Norris’ victory prospects were wrecked in Singapore – where he won in 2024 – when he qualified down in fifth place.
Norris, who recovered to third in that particular race with a first-lap move on Piastri, revealed that some choice words post-race played a role in his success in Mexico.
“I feel better with the car today,” Norris, who reclaimed the championship lead over Piastri, told Sky Sports F1.
“Everything’s about how I feel with the car. Last year, I felt very good with the car, I could perform better. This year I’ve struggled to get to grips with it.
“It’s been incredibly quick, but it’s clearly still difficult to drive.
“But when you get in that sweet spot, you can make it work, and it’s still something that over the last few weekends I’ve struggled with, even in Singapore.
“We had our debrief and we sat down for half an hour, and like: ‘Guys, this is exactly the car I don’t want. This is the reason why we can’t win more races, why we’re not gonna win in the future, is if we keep having a car that doesn’t give me what I need’.
“This weekend, I just had a little bit more what I need, and I can perform how I did this weekend. It’s as simple as that.”
READ MORE – Why Mexico GP reassured McLaren about F1 title prospects
Discussion about this post