McLaren is not yet ready to win races. The team from Woking has had to listen to this criticism a lot recently. After Lando Norris’ first F1 victory in Miami, almost every race seemed to be another chance to get on the top podium. In the end, however, the Brit always mourned a missed success. Whether it was a crash in Austria or a strategic misstep like the one recently in Silverstone. But McLaren doesn’t want to let that get them down, because winning can be learned.
“I feel good, probably better than I’ve ever felt,” said Norris on Thursday ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “Yes, we’ve had some tougher races and not had ideal results, but our confidence as a team has never been higher. In no way are we overly optimistic or overconfident. We’re doing so many things really well and have been almost the best performing team over the last two months.”
There is therefore no reason for anger or pessimism. “We know that we can almost only get better because there are things we can work on and we are working very hard on them,” said the Briton. “I also feel extremely good as a driver. I probably feel like I have everything under control better than ever before. From a team perspective and from a personal perspective, I am happy that things are going in the right direction.”
Victories are new territory – McLaren too inexperienced?
The last season in which McLaren celebrated multiple victories was 2012. At that time, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton were still driving for the racing team. Being at the top of the Formula 1 field is therefore, in some ways, new territory for the team. “It’s a new situation for us,” says Norris. “A lot of people at McLaren are new and weren’t here 10 or 15 years ago when the team was winning races.”
At Red Bull, winning is already routine. Mercedes and Ferrari have never really forgotten how to win either. “We are now fighting at the top against teams that have been in this position for a long time,” says Oscar Piastri. “In some cases for over a decade. It’s been a while since we fought there as a team. That’s no excuse, of course, but we are inexperienced.”
This results in mistakes like those in Spielberg and Silverstone. “Now you no longer lose seventh or eighth place, but a win or a second place,” says Norris. “But mistakes can always happen. Other drivers and teams too.”
Lando Norris plays it safe: No more strategy experiments
It is important to learn from the mistakes made. That is exactly what McLaren intends to do. “We have learned a few lessons,” assures Piastri. “We are constantly learning. Some circumstances we had under control, others we did not. We analyse that and ultimately we have to focus on the things we can control.”
“What happened at Silverstone obviously hurts,” admits Norris. “But I don’t need other people telling us what we did wrong and how we can do better. I think we understand that, we know that as a team. We still have to learn how to deal with difficult situations.”
The Briton also reveals what this will look like in concrete terms. “We have to make sure we ask the right questions and stick to what we know,” says Norris. “It’s easy to get cocky and come up with great strategy ideas, but sometimes it’s better to stick to the plan. Everyone in the team is ready to work on themselves and find out what they could have done better. I also tried to find out what I could have said and done better at Silverstone.”
Contrary to Lando Norris’ wishes, motorsport expert Christian Danner has given his verdict on McLaren and the lack of victories. Read it here:
Norris and Piastri optimistic: McLaren will do better
Ultimately, despite some disappointing results, Norris is sure that he and his team will quickly learn how to win: “It’s not a super complicated process, but when you’re leading a race or second and have to make decisions, the stress and pressure are of course always high. We know and understand what we have to do. It will be more difficult to make these things routine in order to simply get through a race. But I’m confident that we will make better decisions and have already learned from these situations.”
Teammate Piastri sums up his confidence in McLaren in one simple sentence. “It would be incredibly pessimistic not to be optimistic about our chances for the rest of the year,” said the Australian.