Lando Norris delivered one of his best performances of the season in Mexico—but the Briton emphasizes that this could change as early as next weekend.
At the start of the 2025 Formula 1 season, Lando Norris revealed on several occasions that the McLaren MCL39 was not a car he felt really comfortable in. The Briton won the season opener in Melbourne and also finished on the podium in the following three races.
However, Norris “only” won two of the first nine races of the season, while his teammate Oscar Piastri racked up a whopping five victories in the same period. In the meantime, the internal balance of power at McLaren has shifted and Norris is back in the lead in the World Championship.
“It’s hard to quantify how much work the team has done behind the scenes to give me a little bit more of what I want and what I need to drive at the level I can drive at,” said the Briton after his victory at the Mexican Grand Prix.
While Norris won from pole position and finished half a minute ahead of the rest of the field, his teammate Piastri only managed fifth place. Norris himself explains that he felt comfortable in the car right from the first lap of the Mexican Grand Prix weekend.
Norris: Feeling in the car still fluctuates
“But just a few weekends ago in Singapore, I almost felt like I was back at the start of the season: no feeling for the front, no confidence,” he reveals, explaining that the weekends are still a rollercoaster ride for him.
Team principal Andrea Stella explained at the beginning of the year that Norris was struggling, especially at the limits of the MCL39, to “get a few more milliseconds out of the car.” With a few updates, they managed to give Norris a better feeling over the course of the year.
“Progress has certainly been made,” says Norris, who emphasizes: “Of course, I’ve also done a lot of work off the track with my team, with a lot of people, to understand what my problems were, all those things, and then how I can counteract them.”
However, it’s also clear that there are still weekends when he has problems with the car. “There are certainly areas where we need to improve. And if I want to achieve what I did [in Mexico] more often, we need to continue to improve the car,” Norris emphasizes.
Norris doesn’t want to look for ‘excuses’
“The last thing I want to do is look for excuses,” he explains, revealing: “I hate that because I don’t like having a reason for why I sometimes have problems. I just want to be able to drive any car I’m given.”
“Ultimately, it’s my job to drive any car I’m given, whether it’s a great car or a terrible car,” says Norris, who emphasizes: “There are reasons why I have problems here and there. But that’s no excuse.” “If I’m slow, it means I’ve done a bad job and wasn’t a good driver that day,” Norris says self-critically. That was certainly not the case in Mexico, where the Briton regained the championship lead with his commanding victory.
With four races to go, the McLaren driver is one point ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri, who has recently had more problems than Norris. The Australian has not been on the podium since the Italian Grand Prix in Monza almost two months ago.
