Norris admits pole comes at a price in 'faster but trickier' MCL39

McLaren delivered a commanding performance in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, but poleman Lando Norris admits that extracting a pace advantage from the team’s MCL39 is a delicate and difficult exercise.

The Briton set the fastest time in the decisive Q3 session, outpacing his teammate Oscar Piastri by a narrow margin.

But more importantly, the papaya pair managed to create a significant three-and-a-half tenth gap to the rest of the field, led by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Norris entered qualifying with confidence but tempered expectations, acknowledging that McLaren’s ultimate goal of domination wasn’t a foregone conclusion, much less a straightforward affair.

Expectations vs. Reality

“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,” commented Norris

The final Q3 runs proved pivotal, as both McLaren drivers overcame scrappy initial attempts to secure the top two spots, with Norris edging out Piastri for pole.

The McLaren MCL39 demonstrated undeniable speed, yet Norris emphasized the complexity of harnessing it.

“I mean, when we put the lap in, we had a bit of a gap. But it’s been difficult,” he added.

“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,” he explained.

“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,” he said.

Piastri, who narrowly missed pole, corroborated the car’s potential but highlighted its challenges.

“It’s been quick, but it bites at times,” he remarked candidly. His assessment aligned with Norris’ view that while the MCL39’s underlying pace is evident, it demands precision to unlock.

“This weekend has been difficult at points, but nothing that’s been kind of unmanageable or unfixable,” Piastri continued, suggesting the team has found ways to tame its temperament when it matters most.

Managing the Limit

Norris delved deeper into the MCL39’s characteristics, describing it as a car teetering on the edge of brilliance and difficulty.

“I mean, after today, you’ll say it’s usable. But it has been our struggle so far,” he noted.

“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.”

The trade-off between aerodynamic load and ease of handling is a constant dilemma. “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?” he mused.

“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.”

Piastri pointed to the broader context of tyre performance as an additional factor.

“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,” he said.

“It’s not as easy as maybe you would like. But I think that the underlying pace is definitely there, as it’s shown.”

The combination of a demanding car and sensitive Pirelli tyres amplified the challenge, yet McLaren’s drivers rose to the occasion.

A Faster but Trickier Beast

When pressed by the media post-qualifying, Norris agreed that McLaren’s 2025 car has evolved into a faster but less forgiving machine compared to its predecessors.

“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,” before placing the onus squarely on himself and Piastri to adapt. “It’s down to us,” he asserted.

For Norris, managing the car’s limits is part of the driver’s craft.

“Then it’s my job to be under that limit and find those correct limits and not go over them,” he said.

He embraced the challenge, recognizing that perfection is elusive in Formula 1.

“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,” he stated.

“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.”

Australian Grand Prix - Qualifying results

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