Lando Norris says McLaren took a couple of steps backwards in the winter and made things simpler to move forward for the progress it has shown in F1 2019 so far.
McLaren has had a tough time in F1 for some years now but it has finally shown some positive intent in 2019 with a brand new line-up of Norris and Carlos Sainz. Even though they have some bits still left to get back on top but signs are good for them.
The team actually looks re-energised after the blows in recent time. Norris made it two out of two in Q3 so far with Sainz joining him in Bahrain. Although the Spaniard looked good in the Bahrain GP but he was forced to retire after an early incident.
His rookie teammate Norris though, shone through and finished sixth to register the team’s second best result since 2018 Australian GP. When asked about the changes they made in the winter, Norris emphasised on the team taking a step back to move forward.
“We have made thing more simpler this year,” he said after the race in Bahrain. “I think it was getting complicated with the things we had, so it was leading to other things which wasn’t confusing but getting complicated.
“In some ways, we took a couple of steps back to try and move forward and we have given ourselves a better platform to start off. Its been possible because of all the hard work from all the guys back in the factory and also the team at the track.”
The British racer certainly feels a ‘better trend’ from how it was in 2018 and the steps they have taken has been positive. The team has been implementing structural changes since last year with Brown and Gil de Ferran taking the mantle of the whole McLaren team.
They have Pat Fry back in the team while James Key has also finally joined them in the technical director position. Ex-Porsche’s Andreas Seidl is due to join later this year as well which will see him run the F1 outfit as its team principal.
Meanwhile, Norris was quite upbeat after the Bahrain GP with the British rookie being one of the highlights – also received praise from Mika Hakkinen and Ross Brawn. Elaborating more on his race stints and fights, Norris admitted he was a bit soft.
“The whole Bahrain GP was a lot more fun than Australia. I could do some overtake or we had the chance to overtake and do a bit of defending as I could just enjoy the experience of F1 much more here. We just had better pace than we thought we will have.
“I was a bit soft with my overtakes as I think as I could have done more. I am not super confident with big moves at the moment. I think I have bit more potential with the braking but I placed my car in the right areas.
“I used overtake and used energy where I need to, which made me happy as I did some things better and used my initiative this weekend than I did in Australia.” Norris also stressed that the team can only gain further through aerodynamics which is vital.
When asked what surprised him so far in the two F1 races, Norris felt the respect from drivers have been much better than he anticipated, especially at the starts where he felt there would be more crashes but alertness has been better.
Check out Fernando Alonso’s views on McLaren
Here’s what Carlos Sainz said after Bahrain