Lando Norris isn’t sure whether the McLaren MCL39 naturally better suits Oscar Piastri, or whether the Australian is simply adapting better to changes made over winter.

In their third season together, Piastri is enjoying the upper hand over Norris following the first five races of the F1 2025 season.

Lando Norris: It’s the drivers’ job to adapt to the car

Norris came out of the blocks with all guns blazing with a controlled victory at the Australian Grand Prix. But, in the four race weekends since, Piastri has scored three wins and a podium to open up a 10-point lead over Norris and a 12-point lead over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

While Norris has made a few errors, particularly in qualifying, which have compromised his weekends, Piastri has avoided similar pitfalls.

In Saudi Arabia, Norris crashed out early in Q3 while Piastri went on to secure a front-row finish before overcoming Verstappen and taking the race win. McLaren team boss Andrea Stella revealed that Norris, moreso than Piastri, is encountering issues he labelled as “episodes” when pushing the MCL39 to its absolute limits, resulting in the occasional errors.

Given how comfortable Norris was with last year’s MCL38, challenging Verstappen for the title, the British driver’s issues have begged the question of whether something has fundamentally changed in the McLaren’s design to take it away from Norris’ comfort zone as a driver, or whether Piastri has just stepped up his game beyond Norris’ current level.

“Difficult one to answer. Yeah, very difficult to answer,” Norris said in the press conference ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.

“I think there are just certain things which don’t allow me to feel what I need to feel. And those things are what allow me to drive to the level that I can drive at. To get pole positions and to drive at the highest level in racing.

“We’re talking about small things. It’s not like it’s impossible to drive all of a sudden. It’s just when we’re talking about qualifying, split by hundredths of a second, thousandths of a second. That’s what I’m complaining of. And nothing more than that.

“So yeah, it’s not one I can probably just give you a yes or no answer to. I think he’s maybe more naturally able to adapt. And I also think it’s the driver’s job to adapt to whatever car they get given. But there are compromises. And the team is also there to try and help you get the most out of the car.

“But it’s clear there have been some changes. And whether it’s just suited Oscar, or Oscar’s really done to do a better job at adapting.

“Then that’s not for me to kind of know or try and figure out or waste my time on. But yeah, for me, it’s actually hurt me a little bit more. And I’m not being able to perform at the level that I was at the end of last season. Which I think is the best level that I’ve been at.”

The British driver explained that it was not evident in pre-season that the car would cause him the troubles it has, “Of course, we have the simulator and things. And there was nothing that really spoke out that much about it.

“So the answer is no. We knew it would be a step forward. We knew it would be quicker. But until you really put it on the track and you drive at different circuits, you know, it’s not just at one. There are some circuits I felt better and some circuits I’ve lacked feeling a lot. No, but not enough of an indication for me to kind of prepare probably what I needed to prepare for.”

But, whether it be down to the car not suiting him perfectly or an elevated performance from his teammate, Norris said he’s hopeful of making a step forward on his side.

“I’m working on my things. I’m working on what to improve and trying to figure out all the things behind the scenes on what I need to do better on,” he said.

“It’s certainly not because of a lack of speed or lack of ability to do so. I’ve often led the way in Q1 and Q2, but always when I’ve got to Q3 then it’s not going to plan.

“So yeah, I think there’s stuff on the driving side and other things from the car side where just things haven’t clicked. But I’m working on it and hopefully this weekend I can put it into practice.

“The break was very well needed for everyone. But definitely myself, it was nice to get away from things and have a bit of a reset. But it was productive.

“That doesn’t mean a lot of stuff has changed for this weekend. It’s not like things are going to magically work as I would love. But I think there’s been a lot more understanding over the last couple of weeks of certain things, certain feelings, what could have affected things, what maybe didn’t.

“So, you know, the majority of my sim work was based upon that and trying to understand some of these things, which is good.

“But then it’s about understanding them further, knowing what measures you can take to start changing things on the car and what you want to put resources into, you know. So it’s a bigger thing than just saying this or that. But yeah, there’s been a lot more understanding. And I think that’s the main thing. So as a team, then we need to work on how we can bring it to the car.”

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