After a disappointing Sprint qualifying in China, Lando Norris has criticized the MCL-39, his McLaren, which was the clear favorite going into the weekend but only managed sixth place in the morning session
A disappointed Lando Norris, and understandably so, given the expectations surrounding the MCL-39, McLaren’s 2025 contender, which had shown immense potential in Australia, establishing itself as the team to beat this season. However, despite a strong start to the weekend with absolute dominance in the free practice session, Norris and the Woking-based team failed to secure pole position in China—far from it.
Despite everything, McLaren still secured a third-place finish with Oscar Piastri, while Norris, as mentioned, had to settle for a spot on the third row, only managing sixth fastest. The gap—almost half a second—might be deceiving, influenced by a significant mistake from the British driver on both his Q3 attempts. But the weekend is far from over, and with qualifying, the Sprint, and the race still to come, Shanghai will reveal the true potential of this McLaren.
Norris’ disappointment and criticism of the car: “Too difficult”
Statements such as “McLaren is the car to beat” or “McLaren is a perfect machine” have become a recurring theme at the start of this season. Experts and team principals, including Christian Horner and Toto Wolff, have pointed to the Woking squad as the one to beat. Australia seemed to confirm their predictions.
However, the season’s biggest favorite, Lando Norris, surprisingly disagrees. Speaking with some frustration, as also reported by Motorsport.com, the British driver said: ” I made a mistake, I locked up in the final corner. But now we are struggling a bit more. Simply put, we’re not fast enough. I’m struggling, but it’s more my fault than the car’s. I can’t make the car perfect, but I tried to push too hard. I need to take a step back and avoid overdriving”. “.
He then somewhat backtracked on his criticism:“I think the car is still good and in a decent window, although maybe not good enough for pole. But we can definitely be further ahead. Our struggles were more evident today. I made too many mistakes—it’s a very difficult car to drive”.“. Difficulties that need to be addressed as soon as possible—or is this just a way to ease some of the pressure of being the favorite?
Photo: McLaren
