MCL39: Lando Norris gives his first impressions after the initial tests
Lando Norris took the wheel of the McLaren MCL39 during pre-season testing in Bahrain. While the British driver remains confident, he acknowledges that adjustments need to be made before the start of the 2025 season to be competitive against Ferrari and Red Bull.
After just one session behind the wheel of the MCL39, Lando Norris doesn’t hide his enthusiasm. He is already speaking positively about the car, while providing some details about what has been improved compared to the 2024 model. « The sensations are similar, which is a good start », Norris tells the journalists present in Bahrain. « That’s where we wanted to start. » It’s a good sign for McLaren, who had high expectations for this 2025 season, especially after the formidable performance of the previous year.
Despite everything, the team knows it needs to fine-tune certain areas to be truly ready. The main objective? Improve the balance of the car, particularly at the rear. “We struggled a bit more with the rear than we would have liked yesterday and today,” explains Lando. He goes on to say that this weakness is not a deal-breaker: “But it’s still early to sort out these details before the season starts.”
Ongoing adjustments
For now, McLaren seems focused on optimizing the MCL39 and especially on adding more aerodynamic load to improve performance. Nothing has been deeply modified. We just tried to make the car faster and add more load, a simple way of looking at things honestly, explains Norris.
The British driver also emphasizes that, even if the car has potential, adjustments are necessary for McLaren to be ready to face fierce competition. “We always want to try to focus on certain areas more than others,” he confides. For him, improving the rear of the car would be the key to enhancing overall performance: “The more you can improve the rear, the more everything improves.”
It is clear that McLaren, although it seems to be on the right track, has huge expectations for 2025, especially after winning the constructors’ title the previous year. Lando does not hesitate to talk about the pressure: « We expect to be on par with the guys to my right [Max Verstappen of Red Bull and Charles Leclerc of Ferrari], but if we are just there fighting from the start, that’s our goal, considering how the past few years have gone. »
Even if the test time sheets show that McLaren is still behind Ferrari, with a one-second difference, the British driver prefers not to be overly influenced by these results, which are not necessarily representative of actual performance. “The pace of the car? It’s hard to say at the moment. We’re one second behind Ferrari if you only look at the time sheets, which everyone likes to do,” he admits, while specifying, “We’re doing our own work, getting to know the cars. We still have a lot to learn and test.”
A team focused on the future
For McLaren, these initial tests are not meant to impress immediately but to take the time to understand where the weaknesses are and improve them. Lando, true to his positive style, doesn’t speak of a delay but rather of the excitement of testing new elements on the car: « It’s just nice to be back in the car », he says with a smile. « Driving again is always what we love to do, isn’t it? »
If we are to believe the initial feedback from Lando Norris, the MCL39 could be a serious contender once the issues are resolved. One thing is certain, the battle for 2025 promises to be intense.
