Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix polesitter Lando Norris said that as much as McLaren wanted to “dominate” qualifying, the MCL39 made it “difficult” to do so.
Both Norris and his team-mate Oscar Piastri had it all to do in their final Q3 runs after their initial attempts were littered with errors, but it was no bother for the McLaren duo.
Norris led a McLaren front-row lockout on Saturday at the Albert Park circuit with the papaya pair enjoying a three-and-a-half tenth margin over the rest of the field.
However, while the McLaren MCL39 is clearly quick, Norris explained how the car is on a knife edge.
READ MORE – Lando Norris bemoans McLaren balance issues in F1 Australian GP practice
“We’ve been confident just because our expectation is as much as we want to dominate and actually have a result like we’ve just had, it really was not necessarily our expectation to have a bit of a gap to the rest of the cars,” he said.
“I mean, when we put the lap in, we had a bit of a gap. But it’s been difficult.
“I think one of our things has been how difficult it’s been in our car just to execute those qualifying laps and to put things together.
“So to have that kind of pace we had today was not unexpected. But we just weren’t going in thinking, ‘OK, we’re going to have two tenths over everyone’ or whatever it was.
“I mean, after today, you’ll say it’s usable. But it has been our struggle so far.
“I think it’s what happens when you’re getting to that boundary of, you know, it’s another year of the same regulations. You’re trying to improve everything.
“You’ve got to weigh in, you know, do you want a bit more load? Do you want to make it maybe a bit more drivable?
“It’s a difficult balance to get, you know, especially at this kind of point when you’re in a lot of competition and you’re trying to find everything possible.”
Oscar Piastri shares assessment of McLaren car
Piastri, narrowly pipped to pole by his McLaren team-mate, shared Norris’ assessment of the MCL39.
“It’s been quick, but it bites at times,” he said.
“This weekend has been difficult at points, but nothing that’s been kind of unmanageable or unfixable,” Piastri continued.
“It looked pretty tricky out there for everybody and I think as we’re pushing the limits of these tyres as well, for a while now the tyres have been pretty sensitive to how much load all the cars have.
“It’s not as easy as maybe you would like. But I think that the underlying pace is definitely there, as it’s shown.”
Norris: ‘It’s my job’ to understand McLaren limitations
Norris concurred with media questioning post-qualifying that the MCL39 has trended towards being faster but less drivable.
“So it might be that it’s a bit more in that direction,” he opined. “But we’ve at least been able to improve the car a good chunk, I would say.
“I would say it’s quicker, maybe a little tricky to drive,” he added, before explaining it’s down to him and Piastri as drivers to manage the limit.
“It’s down to us,” he said.
“Then it’s my job to be under that limit and find those correct limits and not go over them.
“You can’t always have a perfect car and good drivers are ones who can drive a difficult car at times, and deal with whatever car they get given.
“Of course, you always prefer a quick one, it’s a price we pay for trying to push those boundaries that we’re doing as McLaren.”
READ MORE – Lando Norris pips Oscar Piastri as McLaren takes front row lockout in Australia
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