McLaren must ‘hit the ground running’ in 2025, says Norris’ race engineer

Lando Norris’ race engineer Will Joseph says McLaren will need to raise the bar and “hit the ground running” in 2025 if it hopes to renew its title challenge in the F1 world championship.

McLaren enjoyed a resurgence in 2024 that saw the Woking-based outfit claim six wins – four for Norris and two for Oscar Piastri – and its first F1 Constructors’ title since 1998.

However, despite the team’s strength and momentum, Norris ultimately came up short in his efforts to catch and overhaul his Red Bull rival Max Verstappen in the Drivers’ standings.

McLaren ambitions to challenge for both F1 titles once again next season, but this will require a step forward in terms of performance and a strong start to its 2025 campaign, according to Joseph.

“You're right in the fact that it's not a single race, it's not a single thing that happened that meant we didn't win that championship,” Joseph told the Sky F1 podcast as he reflected on his team’s year.

“Yes, I think we could have done better in a lot of those races, but as you said, what we need to do is we need to hit the ground running in 2025.

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“We talk a lot about raising the bar, and the reality is, if we go into 2025 in the same place we finish here, we won't win. We need to do more. We need to do better.

“So everything that has gone wrong, we need to go back and find a reason why we couldn't do it better. Do we need to change the way we work? Do we need to change the information that we're sharing?”

With teams like Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes also looking to refine their approaches, Joseph acknowledged the fine margins that separate victory from defeat.

But he also emphasized that McLaren’s improvement requires an effort from every level of the organization. From driver performance to operational execution, the team is leaving no detail unchecked.

“It’s a lot of work in the background that goes on to raise the bar, and the responsibility is on us,” he said.

“Lando has a shared responsibility, and he's the first person to say there are things that he could have done better.

“So we'll go through those together. We'll go through those as a group, as individuals, and we'll come together and hopefully come up with a plan.”

Joseph also pointed to McLaren strategy director Randy Singh’s role in spearheading the team’s ongoing push for operational excellence.

“It’s big on Randy’s agenda to make us better in a lot of the things we do,” he added.

“That’s one of his big responsibilities. And it’s our responsibility to be part of that and play our role in crossing every I and dotting every T.”

With the 2025 F1 season expected to be one of the most competitive in recent years, McLaren knows there is no room for complacency.

The team’s ability to “hit the ground running” from the opening round will likely define whether they can mount a credible challenge for both titles.

For team papaya, the path forward is clear: learn from the shortcomings of 2024, leave nothing to chance, and aim higher than ever.

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