Lando Norris has finally regained the momentum that eluded him after F1’s summer break – and it all began with a brutally honest half-hour debrief with his McLaren engineers after one of his most frustrating weekends of the year.
The Briton dominated last weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix, cruising to victory by more than 30 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc and seizing control of the Drivers’ championship.
With just four rounds to go, Norris leads teammate Oscar Piastri by a single point, while Max Verstappen is running out of road in third place, 36 points adrift.
Yet, behind the McLaren charger’s late-season surge lies not a new piece of hardware or a radical setup tweak, but a conversation – one that, according to Norris, put things into perspective and changed everything.
‘Guys, this is exactly the car I don’t want’
After a difficult Singapore Grand Prix, Norris says a debrief with his engineering team at McLaren became the turning point.
“It’s just, I feel better with the car today,” Norris told Sky Sports F1 after his Mexico triumph.
“Everything’s about how I feel with the car. Last year, I felt very good with the car, I could perform better. This year I’ve struggled to get to grips with it.
“It’s been incredibly quick, but it’s clearly still difficult to drive. But when you get in that sweet spot, you can make it work, and it’s still something that over the last few weekends I’ve struggled with, even in Singapore.
“I mean, we had our debrief and we sat down for half an hour, and like: ‘Guys, this is exactly the car I don’t want. This is the reason why we can’t win more races, why we’re not gonna win in the future, is if we keep having a car that doesn’t give me what I need’.
“This weekend, I just had a little bit more what I need, and I can perform how I did this weekend. It’s as simple as that.”
That candid exchange seems to have bridged the gap between Norris and the temperamental MCL39 – a car that has undeniably been the class of the field but also which often felt like a puzzle with missing pieces.
McLaren’s earlier suspension updates helped, but it’s the fine-tuning of Norris’s connection to the car that has truly brought the latter back in line with his all-important “feeling”.
From Doubt to Dominance
Norris’ resurgence comes after a turbulent start to the year, when Piastri – in identical machinery – claimed four of the opening eight victories. His teammate, meanwhile, could manage only two and admits that self-doubt crept in.
“At times at the beginning of the year, I certainly did,” Norris said. “Because I never want to blame my car, and certainly when the car was winning and Oscar was winning, the last thing I ever could do is use the excuse that my car is not good enough.
“But I wasn’t getting up to grips and wasn’t finding a way to make it work, and I’m finding a better way to make it work now. It’s as simple as that.
“One race performing well I don’t think means anything. Two, three, four in a row, does.
“I think the last few months have been good. Max has still caught me. I’ve had one good weekend now, but Max has still caught over the last few months, and I still got to keep my head down.”
That mix of confidence and caution sums up Norris perfectly – a driver who’s learned to balance speed with self-awareness. And after Mexico, it’s clear he’s not just chasing race wins anymore; he’s chasing the biggest prize of them all.
With São Paulo next on the calendar, Norris carries both momentum and assurance into the home stretch of a gripping title fight. The car finally feels like his – and that might be the most dangerous development of all for his rivals.
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