McLaren Hits Back After Lando Norris Demands More Comfort Behind the Wheel

Despite being quickest in the opening race of the 2025 season at Melbourne, Lando Norris asked McLaren for a more comfortable car and highlighted how the MCL39 doesn’t naturally suit his driving style, but he ended up adapting to it. McLaren has responded to his comments by stating that tailoring a car to suit his driving style would compromise performance.

Norris emerged as a serious title contender after McLaren introduced effective upgrades mid-season last year, which proved to be a game-changer. Since then, the team has been on an upward trajectory, especially this year, when it showcased impressive speed and balance even in tricky conditions like those during the Australian GP.

However, Norris has more to ask. While comfort remains a priority, he also pointed out how he has had to change his driving style every year. He said:

“From a car point of view, the car’s doing and performing well, but it’s still extremely difficult to drive.

“We know in certain conditions, like in the wettest conditions, Max [Verstappen] was just as quick as us; in the dry conditions we were a bit better, so [it’s] just [about] making the car a little bit more predictable and a little bit more comfortable.

“We’re just at a good point with things – I can’t complain, the whole thing is at a good level, but between Oscar [Piastri] and myself there are things that we both comment on, which gives the guys and the girls back in the factory a clear direction on what we want to improve. And I guess, yes, the car’s great, but we always want more.”

He added:

“I think in general some of the traits are the same [as last year’s car]. It still doesn’t suit at all my driving style. I’ve got to a point where I’ve just accepted that you can’t have a car that suits your driving style – maybe it does suit some people’s.

“I kind of got to a point where I stopped maybe asking so much for what I want and [I’m] more just willing to do whatever makes the car quicker. It is probably a tricky car to drive and put together laps, but clearly it’s taken a step forward to last year.”

McLaren technical director Neil Houldey has responded to Norris’ statements ahead of the Chinese GP, stressing that the 25-year-old driver is “good enough” to adapt to the car. He said:

“I think like you said, he stopped asking and we’ve produced a faster car, I think. We just try and generate the fastest car that we possibly can, and he is good enough to manage that and change his driving style to suit.

“I think if we focused on just trying to make the car work for his driving style, we may well end up with a slower car. So I think so far it looks like we’ve taken the right route and luckily he’s awesome enough to cope with that and find a fast way of driving it.”