It’s no secret McLaren has turned its season around in the past few weeks. And Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s recent results are a testament to the significant step the Woking outfit has taken to close the gap with Red Bull. So after his Hungarian GP exploits—where he finished second for the second consecutive race weekend, Norris was asked about McLaren’s turnaround. He compared the MCL60 to Mercedes’ challenger, saying, “Mercedes were on pole here last year, and their car has been pretty good. I know Lewis complains a lot of how amazing our car is and how bad theirs is. But they don’t have a bad car, and they haven’t all season.” Needless to say, the Lewis Hamilton Army wasn’t happy with him, calling him a backstabber. And now, Norris has become a hypocrite.
Coming off the back of three weekends he wouldn’t want to forget, Norris was once again asked about McLaren’s resurgence and how the car feels under him. After having mentioned previously that the MCL60 isn’t suited to his driving style, he stuck with it. As quoted by formulapassion.it, he said, “The car is still difficult to drive, and it is difficult to stay consistent, and we need to improve our tire management which was one of our weak areas last weekend.” With the cooler conditions in Belgium, the MCL60 might not be too tough on the tires, and considering it’s a fast track, McLaren could continue its good run of form. But why is he a hypocrite?
After accusing Hamilton of complaining about the W14, Norris is doing the same with his MCL60. He added, “I will always complain about something because that’s what every driver does.” But despite its shortcomings, Norris and Piastri have maximized the car’s potential. Norris even said, “If we consider that at the beginning of the season, we struggled to qualify in Q1, and now we find ourselves fighting for pole, I’d say it’s one of the most obvious turning points in F1 history. So I’m happy with what has been done so far, and we will try to continue like this.”
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Even Piastri had things to say about the updated MCL60. And like Norris, he too feels the car isn’t too different from the one he was driving before the British GP.
Oscar Piastri seconded Lando Norris’ feelings about the new MCL60
Unlike Lando, Oscar Piastri got a taste of the new McLaren upgrades only a race after Norris at the British GP. And it’s safe to say he did all he could with the car—qualifying third and finishing the race fourth. Considering McLaren’s one-lap pace had been pretty okay this season, Piastri didn’t set any expectations for the race. He said, “We saw in Barcelona in similar conditions [during qualifying] with the old spec car that we could also challenge for the front. I don’t want to be negative, but I feel like there’s a little bit in that.”
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Arriving to the race weekend together! 😄
👋 @LandoNorris
👋 @OscarPiastri #BelgianGP 🇧🇪 pic.twitter.com/QwDWAlFU8V— McLaren (@McLarenF1) July 27, 2023
He continued, “The car doesn’t feel too much different. And I think we still have some weaknesses we want to address.” Despite the weaknesses, the McLaren boys have had two very good weekends, and they hope to continue that streak in Spa. While discussing where they could finish in both the races this weekend, Piastri said, “One-two, one-two,” but then changed it to “Three-four, three-four,” placing the McLaren behind the Red Bulls.
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Watch This Story: Lando Norris’s Innocent Mistake in Referring to Lewis Hamilton May not Please Max Verstappen & Red Bull
Could McLaren continue its good run in Spa? And will Oscar Piastri finally get his first podium?