Norris wants new McLaren to be 'better to drive'

Lando Norris says he wants to see this year's MCL60 'better behaved' than its predecessor, rather than simply seeking pure performance enhancements to this year's challenger.

The team was pipped to fourth in the 2022 constructors championship by Alpine, and Norris himself was only seventh in the drivers standings despite being the only driver outside the top three teams to finish on the podium all year.

This year the team is looking to reclaim its 'best of the rest' status (after Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes), and Norris feels that this means making the car better to drive as a whole.

"There's definitely been a little bit more of a push from my side from last year into this year to not just try to create the best car, or quickest car," he said at the team's media launch at the start of the week.

"I believe for us to start taking the biggest steps, we need to try and change some more fundamental things - some things that I think as a team we've struggled with for the past three or four years

© McLaren

"That's something I pushed pretty hard on last season," he added. "To have these little things that just keep coming up with every different car.

"I just want to be able to figure those things out and unlock it, and be able to not just have a car which is fast or whatever, but have a car which is also better to drive in general, and unlock a different balance."

Looking over his new company car this week, Norris appeared hopeful that he was getting the car he had been hoping for over Christmas.

"It’s lovely to see the evolution from last year. Subtle things, but all to try and help us move in the right direction and take things forward. It looks good. The real question is answered in a few weeks when I get to be behind the wheel.

"I am excited, he added. "This is my fifth season, and it has been a long journey, although it doesn’t feel like it has been four and a half years.

• Read also: Patient Norris has 'not lost faith' in McLaren

"This is another new season, another new car, and a new teammate, so there will be a lot of new challenges.

From the outside it had looked as though Norris had been getting on just fine with the old MCL36 last year, while his team mate Daniel Ricciardo struggled to find any level of performance at all.

It resulted in Ricciardo leaving the team at the end of the season, but Norris revealed that it hadn't exactly been the best of times for him either.

"I struggled to adapt to how you have to drive every corner separately," he disclosed to Motorsport.com in Abu Dhabi in November which were reminiscent of Riccardo's own musings. "It was never the same in every corner.

© McLaren F1

"I had to adapt and change my driving style a lot. Every corner was on such a knife-edge," he explained. "It's impossible to be on it every single lap in every single qualifying and in every race. I struggled to find the limit.

At the time there were suggestions that McLaren's designers had focused on developing a car better suited to Norris than to Ricciardo, but the 23-year-old laughed this off. "If so, they've done a terrible job of achieving that!"

This season Norris will be the undisputed team leader, with Ricciardo having been replaced by rookie driver Oscar Piastri.

"I am feeling inspired," said the young Australian. "It is the 60th year for McLaren, so I can look at a lot of history there - a lot of winning history.

"I am excited to finally be on the grid and to be in papaya, so I am looking forward to getting out there and getting stuck in."

The MCL60 will head to Bahrain for this week's pre-season testing taking place between February 23-25. After that it's just a week before the first Grand Prix of the season at the same venue on March 5.

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