Lando Norris shuts down “BS” theories about McLaren rear wing impact

Lando Norris has hit out at “BS” theories that McLaren’s recent performance has been impacted by changes to their rear-wing.

McLaren were forced to modify the rear wing they used to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after finding themselves at the centre of attention when rivals raised questions about the legality of their dubbed ‘mini DRS’.

The Woking-based outfit confirmed alterations were made to their rear wings ahead of the United States Grand Prix and barring the sprint race in Brazil, the team have not won since.

After finishing the Las Vegas Grand Prix sixth behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who sealed his fourth consecutive world title, Norris rejected suggestions that McLaren’s form has been directly impacted by the rear-wing modifications.

“Everyone wants to say whatever they want. They can all believe their own BS that they tell themselves,” Norris told Sky Sports F1.

“It made a very small amount of difference, a lot less than everyone thinks. It gained us a lot less than everyone thinks. It’s got nothing to do with that.”

Having finally seen his slim championship hopes come to an end with two races remaining this season, Norris offered his congratulations to Verstappen.

“Congrats to Max,” he said. “Knowing the championship is 100% over, you always have a little hope inside, but he drove an incredible season.

“When he had the quickest car he dominated and when he didn’t, he was still there and always on my heels.

"He made my life tough. We made his tough at times. But he drove a better season.”

On being involved in a title fight for the first time, Norris said: “I was happy with how calm and focused I was.

“There’s definitely more pressure, there’s more eyes, there’s more nerves, there’s more demands on me to make sure I go out and don’t mess up a qualifying lap, don’t make a mistake in the race, stay in the race, don’t get taken out.

"You have to drive better when you get to that point and I feel like I have. Since Zandvoort I feel like I’ve done close to a perfect job. There’s always things to improve on but I feel like I’ve done a very good job, especially the second half of the season.

“The first half, I don’t think I was, or we were as a team, mentally ready. As much as we would like to believe we were ready, we weren’t. We paid the price a little bit but also it was us there fighting Max, no one else.

“So I’m more proud than anything else. I don’t regret anything.”