Lando Norris revealed that his opening run in McLaren’s 2025 Formula 1 car felt “normal” despite the team having been “innovative” with various design elements.
McLaren emerged as the debut team to reveal its new challenger on Thursday as it completed a shakedown at Silverstone with the MCL39 wrapped in a camo livery.
The Woking-based squad has appeared to deliver on CEO Zak Brown’s claim that it was taking a “brave risk” approach as it bids to remain the benchmark this season.
In comparison to the title-winning MCL38, McLaren’s 2025 car comprises tweaks to the airbox and sidepod inlet, while the front and rear suspension have been revamped.
McLaren boss Andrea Stella described the changes as “innovative” as the side hunts marginal gains under the last campaign with the current ground effect regulations.
But while he acknowledged that McLaren has “pushed the boundaries”, Norris revealed the car behaved as he expected and there were no unwelcome surprises.
Asked about his initial impression from the limited running he did, Norris told media including Motorsport Week: “Yeah… Early days. Honestly, not too many comments yet.
“I think, as you can see, the conditions are not ideal, so had some wet running.
“Obviously, these are not the tyres we actually run on [filming days take place with special tyres provided by Pirelli] and that changes some things as well.
“It felt normal, I’d say, so that’s been the first good step, because it has been quite innovative with some of the designs and some things that they’ve tried to attack with the car this year.
“And that has caused trickiness amongst design, all of those types of things. The guys have done a very good job to try and explore more areas and push boundaries.
“So you’re always a little bit nervous that things are not going to be perfect when you try them, and how well they’re going to match the track and wind tunnel and all these things put together, but I think everything’s working as it should, and everything feels normal.
“Just with the conditions, things change quite quickly, so hopefully, Oscar [Piastri] gets some laps in the dry in a minute, or dry-ish, and he can give some more feedback.”
McLaren hasn’t ‘stood still’ in 2025
Prior to getting his chance in the real thing, Piastri said the MCL39 had felt “good” in the simulator, concurring with his team-mate that McLaren hasn’t been stagnant.
“We’re obviously going into the same regs this year, but we’ve not stood still,” the Australian, entering his third season in the sport, told Sky Sports F1.
“There are some things that are different, some new innovations on this car, and I think that’s what you need to do to try and stay at the top.
“We’ve seen in the past that, when it’s not been us winning, other teams have been constantly putting new things on their car and not standing still as well.
“Through last season we, of course, came out on top in the Constructors’ Championship, but it was so tight through the whole season.
“So you really can’t afford to stand still, because there’s a lot of teams waiting to try and overtake us.”
READ MORE – How McLaren plans to handle Lando Norris & Oscar Piastri in F1 2025
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