Norris says any strong McLaren finish ‘luck’ not ‘pace’

Michelle Foster
Lando Norris speaks to his engineer. Barcelona May 2022.

Lando Norris leans over a desk in the McLaren garage speaking to his engineer. Spain May 2022.

Lando Norris has declared his MCL36 is “not good enough”, the Briton saying his car is probably the “slowest” on the straights.

Norris was dejected after a dismal Canadian Grand Prix weekend, one that must have seemed as what could go wrong, did.

The driver lined up 14th on the grid after a power unit problem in qualifying, lost out when McLaren double stacked their cars and then, adding to his misery, the team fitted the wrong tyres.

Despite his efforts he was unable to recover, his points-scoring run ending with a P15.

“The car’s not good enough,” Norris said as per Motorsport.com.

“At times it’s strong. I was a little bit more optimistic after Friday, that we could achieve more.

“But when I was stuck behind the Williams, they’re so fast, probably the quickest in the straights and we’re probably the slowest in the straights, and then it’s literally impossible to overtake so we can’t do anything.”

But while the driver wanted nothing more than to escape the day with an “cold bath and an ice cream” he says the one positive is that bad days like Montreal will light a fire under the McLaren team.

After three top-tens, it was, he says, a reminder that they still have a long way to go.

“It’s just not… anywhere where we want it,” he said of the car.

“A day like today is probably a good thing that shows we’re a long way off and we have to keep working very hard, keep trying a lot of different things.

“Maybe at times things look great but it’s never really genuine pace, a day like today where it’s more simple and we don’t have luck on our side shows where we’re at.”

It was McLaren’s first point-less race since the Miami Grand Prix, leaving the team on 65 points on a day where Alpine bagged a double points-haul and closed the gap to eight points.

 

McLaren struggle through Canadian GP weekend

Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris both finished outside of the points on Sunday to cap off a poor Canadian GP for McLaren.