Norris: "We’ve had the same problem for years"

McLaren fought against Alpine for a significant part of the season for fourth place in the constructor’s championship. The English team failed to overcome the French constructor, who had a more powerful but less reliable car. Lando Norris commented on the difficulties faced by the team compared to the midfield competitors.

An understeering single-seater.

“The chances of achieving better results to beat Alpine were very slim, according to Lando Norris. The British driver highlights a characteristic present in McLaren’s cars for several years. Indeed, the English car lacks grip on the front end and wears out the front tires more quickly. This is a major issue that needs to be resolved for the next season as the MCL36 struggled to keep up with its competitors.”

Among the things we have struggled with, there is the fact that the car lacks front-end grip. For me, all I need is front-end support. I don’t need any aerodynamic support on the rear-end.

Norris explains that this problem is known but that the engineers have not yet been able to reverse the support. But we know all that. We know it, it’s something that we unfortunately have had for years and it’s our job to get rid of it for next season.

A promising end to the season

McLaren finishes the championship with encouraging results for 2023. The English cars have been fighting at the forefront of the midfield during the last Grand Prix of the season. It’s a good momentum that delights Lando Norris, the British driver who set the fastest lap in the race for the last Grand Prix of the season at the Yas Marina circuit.

« This was probably one of our best weekends in terms of actual pace compared to the leaders. So there is some positive.

« I think we ended the season in style. I gave the team a good dose of energy to approach the offseason.

»