Lando Norris revealed he was content to be second in the Chinese Grand Prix as the race provided him with “answers for my struggles” with McLaren’s Formula 1 car.
Norris retained his lead in the Drivers’ Championship as he came home one spot behind his race-winning team-mate Oscar Piastri to secure McLaren’s 50th 1-2 finish.
The Briton had come into the weekend explaining that McLaren’s 2025 challenger is not compatible with his natural desire to brake later and attack the corner entries.
That was exposed at the Shanghai International Circuit as various mistakes with what has been a quick but capricious MCL39 on low fuel denied Norris pole position.
But while he missed out on the win, Norris was more competitive in race conditions until a worsening brake pedal issue inclined him to nurse the car home to the end.
Norris admitted he went into the main event expecting to struggle again, but he departed the weekend positive that he has understood the reason behind his troubles.
“Tough race,” Norris reviewed to media including Motorsport Week. “Yeah. I mean, I’m just satisfied for the result, for the team.
“You know, 50th 1–2 for McLaren is quite an achievement, so happy to be part of that, first of all, and a great race by Oscar.
“I’m happy considering how bad my last few days have been and how much I struggled just to get comfortable and understand how to drive the car.
“To go to the pace I had today, which I think was very strong, it was a much better race than I was thinking I was going to have.
“I was not confident one bit and yeah, I was nervous that I was going to struggle just as badly, honestly.
“But very satisfied to know how much I’ve improved from a car point of view, from a driving point of view.
“Today was a much stronger day, so I’m more satisfied to know I’ve got answers for my struggles and yeah, that makes me happy.
“But I’m of course more happy for the 1–2 for the team.”
Norris explains how changed cured limitation
Norris divulged that set-up changes to his McLaren during the weekend helped to reduce the excessive front-end understeer that had made the car passive on turn in.
Asked to elaborate on the tweaks made to his car, Norris replied: “That’s stuff the team will know, and probably no one else, but we made a good amount of changes.
“Obvious ones, to try and improve the front end. I just can’t drive a car with no front.
“I can, but I struggle, and it’s just been too understeery, simply, the car, the last few days – I cannot maximise the package that way.
“I think we both struggled a lot yesterday with that, and it shows that our pace today was from both of us a lot stronger than it was yesterday.
“So I think we’re both still, as a team we’re still understanding this car and knowing its limitations, how to get the most out of it.
“But I feel like, especially for me, in the longer run stuff and even the short run stuff, I’ve not been anywhere near as confident as I would like to be,
and I’ve not got the feeling from the car that I need in order to maximise the performance. But today was a much better showing of that and a much better understanding of it.
“So yeah, made some tweaks with the car, mechanically and aerodynamically, and it was a much better day today. So I’m happy with it.”
READ MORE – Lando Norris ‘lucky’ to finish F1 Chinese GP due to ‘critical’ brake pedal issue
