Norris believes that McLaren can follow the same development as Aston Martin
After signing the lowest number of laps during the pre-season testing, McLaren confirmed the fears during the Bahrain Grand Prix where the performance was never there. However, Norris, like his team manager, believes that the MCL60 has potential.
This first race of the season was challenging for Lando Norris, who had to go to the pits six times to address a tire degradation issue. Oscar Piastri, on the other hand, retired in the first half of the race due to electronic problems.
At the same time, Aston Martin made a spectacular improvement in the hierarchy by gaining over two seconds on a fast lap compared to last year.
If the MCL60, produced by McLaren, is a car with high potential for development, Norris replies: “I definitely think a big part of it is.”
We clearly saw the magnitude of the step Aston Martin took from one year to another, and the extent of the step Ferrari took from 2021 to 2022.
I know that both were out of season, and perhaps there is more potential to make such big changes, but there is no reason why 50% or 75% of this cannot be done throughout the season.
Stella shares her pilot’s vision
Andrea Stella, director of the team based in Woking, is convinced that he can close the gap with the cars ahead, even before the arrival of improvements.
“I believe that with the level of talent and availability we already have at McLaren, we can catch up with and surpass other teams,” Stella says.
What we are currently seeing in development is a very vibrant car, in terms of development. Some areas of the car seem to be able to generate a good lift force.
As I have already said, she was not ready in time to be part of the launch specification, but this car will rather evolve race by race, with some major improvements coming… I would say around the fourth race.
