Lando Norris has delivered a withering put-down of Formula 1‘s new regulations, stating the sport has come from ‘the cars best ever made to probably the worst’.
The first Grand Prix weekend of the new era of radical technical regulations is underway, and has given drivers, teams and fans a proper indication of how they translate into real action.
Despite some frank and categoric comments from some drivers during pre-season testing, it appears that now wheels are fully being turned in anger, the gloves – and some drivers’ filters – are off.
And perhaps none more so than the reigning World Champion, who began his title defence with sixth place on the grid, just under one whole second behind pole-sitter George Russell.
“I could talk for hours,” Norris told media, including Motorsport Week. “I think everyone knows what the issues are.
“It’s just the fact it’s a 50-50 split just doesn’t work. Straight line mode means you’ve got a lot of other issues at hand.
“But the fact you just decelerate so much before corners, you have to lift everywhere to make sure the pack’s at the top, the pack’s too high, you’re also screwed. It’s just difficult.
“But, yeah, it’s what we have. It doesn’t feel good as a driver, but I’m sure George is smiling, so doesn’t really matter in the end of the day. And just got to maximise what you’ve got.”
Asked if this is what F1 is supposed to be, Norris replied: “Not really, no.”
Lando Norris admits complex new cars contributed to McLaren damage
Norris faced further strife in Q3, when a front wing endplate parted from his McLaren MCL40, presumably due to a hastily-taped front wing after previously driving over a cooling fan which fell off Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes.
The Brit admitted that the necessity to judge his energy management correctly via the dash on his steering wheel contributed to his remissness in avoiding the Mercedes’ flailing component.
“You know, I’m looking at my steering wheel, it’s why I don’t see the debris because I have to look at what the speed I’m going to get at the end of the straight and know if I need a brake 30 metres earlier, 10 metres later,” he said.
“So that’s also the problem, you have to look at the steering wheel every three seconds to see what’s going to happen otherwise you’re going to end up off the track.
“It’s just we’ve come from the best cars ever made in Formula 1, and the nicest to drive to probably the worst, and it sucks, but you have to live with it, and then just maximise what you what you get given.
“So it’s certainly different. It’s certainly not like it was last year. And it’s not like push this corner more, because sometimes you push more, you lose the battery and just go slower.
“So you have to understand how to do things. Mercedes have obviously understood that. They would understand, because they’re a good team, and it’s also their own engine. They’ve understood more than we have, and we’ll get there. It just takes a bit of time.”
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