McLaren working on F1 car update that will ‘level up’ Lando Norris in his battle with Oscar Piastri

Lando Norris cut down Oscar Piastri’s championship lead to just three points after claiming his second win of the season in Monaco.

The Brit took pole position from Charles Leclerc and commanded the race to win for the first time on the streets of Monaco. The Ferrari driver finished over three seconds behind in second, while Piastri lost ground in third.

Monaco’s mandatory two-pit stop initiative did little to add to the entertainment on track. But Jolyon Palmer says rivals cannot ‘ignore’ Norris’ performance as he extracted the most out of his MCL39.

Karun Chandhok noticed something ‘unbelievable’ from Norris’ onboard as he kept his car out of the barriers. The 25-year-old is in a position to retake the lead of the championship at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Monaco was a much-needed confidence boost for Norris, as he has struggled in recent weeks compared to his teammate, particularly in qualifying. Several mistakes have cost the McLaren driver, while Piastri has found a new gear, claiming four wins and three poles thus far.

McLaren and Norris have made it no secret that the MCL39 is more difficult to drive compared to its predecessor. The Woking outfit are now working on an upgrade that could ‘level up’ the playing field with their drivers.

McLaren are working on improving the MCL39 in high-speed corners that will ‘level up’ Lando Norris with Oscar Piastri

McLaren have noticed Norris is constantly ‘surprised’ by the MCL39 and its behaviour when pushed to the limit. He is lacking confidence in the car in the high-speed corners – a sharp contrast to how he felt in 2024, when he took the fight to Max Verstappen for the title.

Speaking via ESPN’s Unlapped podcast, journalist Laurence Edmondson shared that McLaren are working on improving the car in the high-speed corners, which will be ‘more suited’ to Norris.

This change should ‘level up’ the Brit with Piastri: “Qualifying, especially high-speed corners, they’ve been his strength and all of a sudden that’s been ripped away from him,” said Edmondson.

“Meanwhile, his teammate’s doing it quite well and I think he’s really struggled to get his head around that side of it.

“Of course, Monaco, there aren’t many high-speed corners, so I feel like perhaps that’s where he was able to shine again. So going into Spain, it could be one of those things where all of a sudden, he’s not confident in the car again.

“However, McLaren are working on ways to make that car kind of more suited to Lando in those circumstances. I don’t think that’s unfair because, potentially Oscar will get the same benefit from that, but it might actually level up Lando a little bit more.

“We might see more of the Lando that we saw midway through or second half of the season last year, where all of a sudden, he was doing things with that car that perhaps Oscar couldn’t, perhaps even Max was surprised by.”

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Lando Norris must keep up Monaco qualifying display to beat Oscar Piastri in 2025

It is clear that Norris has been second to Piastri in qualifying this season. The Aussie has taken a huge step forward in 2025 to put him in the best position to win the title.

Lewis Hamilton says Piastri is delivering in qualifying in every race compared to Norris. It has been the key to the 24-year-old’s success this season.

Norris regained his confidence in Monaco in the low-speed corners, but the Spanish GP will present another challenge with a faster-flowing circuit and the FIA’s flexi-wing directive.

If McLaren can find a way to suit the MCL39 to Norris’ strengths, he will be in the prime position to fight his teammate for the title. But of course, Piastri will also benefit from the change, meaning he will have to be on his game to beat his teammate in 2025.