Early weakness of McLaren’s 2025 F1 car exposed by Lando Norris
One area of McLaren's 2025 F1 car has been pinpointed as a weakness.
Lando Norris has pinpointed the rear-end as an early weakness of McLaren’s 2025 F1 car.
After clinching last year’s constructors’ title, McLaren are pushing on as they look to win both world championships in the upcoming 2025 campaign.
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown insisted his side have not been conservative with the development of the MCL39, which he described as being “bold” and “innovative”.
But speaking after topping the timesheets on the first day of pre-season testing in Bahrain, Norris pinpointed an early weakness as he gave his first verdict on his new challenger.
"It feels similar [to last year’s car], which is a good start” the Briton explained. “That’s where we wanted to start, at least.
"Nothing's been majorly addressed. Let's say it's not like that much has changed from what we've tried to do – we’ve just tried to make the car quicker all around and add more load. It's a very simple way of looking at it, honestly.
"We still want to try and focus on some areas more than others. Like you're saying, we've struggled a bit more with the rear than what we would have liked over yesterday and today.
“But it's still early days. We're not looking at absolute outright performance.”
Lando Norris wants to be in fight from the off
Norris admitted McLaren’s slow start to 2024 cost him as he ultimately had to settle with runner-up spot behind Max Verstappen in last year’s championship.
The Briton hopes McLaren can be competitive right from the beginning in 2025.
"If we went into qualifying now, I'm sure we would change some things. But a lot of today and yesterday has been just ticking the boxes. It's not the fun bit,” he added.
"The fun will come this afternoon and tomorrow morning. Along those lines, I think if we want to improve anything at the minute, it's still the rear of the car. The more you can improve the rear, the more everything just gets better.
"But the rest of it feels correct and it feels like it's in the same ballpark. That's what we want. I don't think we're expecting to be a big step ahead of anyone.
"We're expecting to be tied alongside the guys to my right. But if we're just there fighting from the beginning, that's our target. Considering how the last few years have been, if we can just be there fighting from the off, then we'll be happy."
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