Is McLaren’s New F1 Car Upgrade the Key to Lando Norris Tapping into Fernando Alonso’s Winning Formula?
Lando Norris stormed to pole for the Austrian Grand Prix with a time that was half a second clear of his nearest rival Charles Leclerc.
The Ferrari driver had beaten Oscar Piastri in the first runs in Q3, but when it came to doing a second lap, the Australian was caught up in a spin for Pierre Gasly.
With the yellow flags out, it meant Piastri did not have the use of DRS at the start of his lap, causing him to back out of improving his time from third quickest.
As a result, Piastri will start from the second row of the grid, while Norris has done what he needs to do to potentially close the gap to his title rival after failing to finish in Canada.
Discussing Norris’ improved form on the BBC Chequered Flag podcast, journalist Andrew Benson has explained what McLaren has done behind the scenes to help the Briton improve.
Photo by Clive Rose – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
McLaren give Lando Norris extra support behind the scenes and updated car parts
Norris improved his lap time to go four tenths quicker than last year’s pole by Max Verstappen, and impressive feat considering he has struggled in qualifying so far this year.
McLaren introduced one specific upgrade to their car in Canada that Norris was not able to exploit, but along with work behind the scenes, he has been able to make use of it in Austria.
“McLaren are quite a sensitive team in the way they work quietly behind the scenes with their drivers. They are completely the opposite of Red Bull where it just, if you can’t match Max Verstappen, then you get kicked out. McLaren is a very human and empathetic team, and they have been working quite hard with Norris behind the scenes over the past few races,” said Benson.
“They have been helping him in certain ways with a support mechanism built on top of the team that he already has himself, and you can see an example of it by the suspension change they introduced in Canada.
“It’s not much, it’s a small geometry change, and it’s aimed at giving him a better feel through the front axle. Norris, like Fernando Alonso, feels the car through his hands, and McLaren has done this special change for him and on top of the physiological work, it’s clearly made a difference.”
Lando Norris needs a victory to close gap to Oscar Piastri
Norris needs to hold on to his lead throughout the Austrian GP if he wants to close the points gap between himself and Piastri in the table.
The Briton is now over 20 points behind Piastri in the title race after crashing into him at the end of the Canadian GP, forcing him to retire and give up 10 points.
A win for Norris would not only improve his confidence but would also give him the advantage heading into the European rounds.
The next few tracks favour Norris, after the Briton put in strong performances last year while battling Verstappen for the title.
