Norris Discusses Adaptation Challenges with 2025 McLaren Amidst Strong Team Form

Following a strong showing at the Spanish Grand Prix where McLaren secured a dominant 1-2 finish, Lando Norris has offered insight into the challenges he is facing adapting to the characteristics of the 2025 MCL39 challenger compared to his teammate Oscar Piastri. While the Woking-based squad has shown significant pace improvements, culminating in their recent front-row lockout and victory in Barcelona, Norris admits that certain aspects of the car prevent him from achieving the feeling necessary to consistently extract maximum performance, particularly crucial in tight qualifying battles measured in hundredths or thousandths of a second. Speaking after the Spanish Grand Prix, which saw Piastri take the win ahead of Norris, the Briton acknowledged the difficulty in pinpointing the exact reasons but suggested that Piastri might possess a more natural ability to adapt to the current car's traits. While emphasizing that adapting to the machinery is fundamentally a driver's responsibility, Norris noted that subtle changes in the car since the end of the previous season appear to suit Piastri's style or have been managed by the Australian more effectively. The Spanish Grand Prix weekend itself underlined McLaren's potential. After locking out the front row, the race saw strategic battles unfold, particularly with Red Bull's Max Verstappen. McLaren had to adjust their strategy and pace mid-race to cover the threat posed by Verstappen's alternative approach. Ultimately, they maintained control, with Piastri securing victory and Norris finishing just behind. Despite the team's overall performance uplift, Norris feels he hasn't consistently reached the peak performance level he demonstrated towards the end of the 2024 season, which he regards as his personal best. He highlighted that while there have been circuits where the car felt good, the overall feeling hasn't been consistent enough to allow him to fully prepare and perform at his absolute limit in every session. This contrasts with Piastri, who currently holds a ten-point advantage over Norris in the standings. Norris clarified that these are not major handling issues making the car impossible to drive, but rather fine details affecting the ultimate precision needed for the highest level of competition. The team continues to work on optimizing the car for both drivers, but Norris's comments reveal an ongoing internal dynamic regarding driver adaptation to the evolving MCL39 package.