Despite Having a Decent Step Up, McLaren’s Glaring Weakness Tipped to Bog Down Lando Norris

Imagine that someone who you believe can bring you happiness and fulfill all of your expectations disappoints you to the utmost degree. Lando Norris is suffering from the misery you envisioned. The papaya army’s tactics and the strong faith the British driver had in them both proved to be misguided. The team’s obvious flaws continue to drag him down. Though the Woking-based squad had already implemented some significant changes for Baku, they only persisted through qualifying, and the team was unable to translate the quali pace into race pace.

After a catastrophic start to the season and a modest comeback at Albert Park, Norris claimed at the Azerbaijan Circuit that he currently believes the team is where it should have been at the start of the season. There has been a delay in the MCL 60s crucial enhancements, which has put Norris in a critical situation.

However, as the season moves forward, each and every team is making steady progress, including McLaren. Three upper beam wing elements and two lower beam wing elements received modifications from the papaya team for the Azerbaijan GP. In addition, they changed their rear wing to reduce drag. As evidenced by the race in Baku, all of this put together hasn’t yet reached a point where the team can compete in the mid-field battle.

In the Chequered Flag podcast, when the show’s host inquired how McLaren’s straight-line speed highlights the team’s weakness, Andrew Benson responded succinctly. He said, “They are another team that are really bad in a straight line. Because actually after two sectors yesterday in qualifying, they looked okay, Jack. Yeah, they were I mean, Norris was three and a half, 4/10 off Perez and Verstappen, and three and a half 4/10 after two sectors.” While assessing their straight-line speed further, he added, “You’re thinking, okay, you gonna finish the lap? 7-8 tenths? No, sorry, 5-6 tenths off? Yeah, but it was closer to a second. I mean, losing 6/10 just in a straight line is an awful lot of lap time to give away.”

READ MORE: McLaren Labelled “Worse” Compared to F1 Rivals Despite Bringing in Major Upgrades at Baku

Norris’ qualification in Baku benefited from some significant upgrades. Unfortunately, they weren’t as significant as the squad might have expected. As a result, they only managed to score two points during the Azerbaijan weekend. Being aware of the extent to which their squad still performs in straight lines, Norris has opened up some shocking information with the fans.

Amidst Mclaren’s struggle, Lando Norris reveals a piece of shocking news for fans

The papaya team had brought some massive improvements to Baku. However, Mclaren driver Lando Norris only managed to place within the top ten at the main Grand Prix. When taking into account their performance since the start of the season, P9 isn’t a bad spot for the Woking-based team.

Norris, however, has made a startling statement in light of the possibility that the current problem won’t be resolved very soon, preventing the team’s drivers from competing for midfield. The British driver predicted that the Miami Grand Prix performance would be similar this coming weekend.

While talking to Sky Sports, the 23-year-old said, “Straight-line speed we’re still pretty shocking, which makes overtaking on a day like today near on impossible. And it’s not like we have a lot more downforce in the corners to catch up and then slow on the straights. We’re just same in the corners and slow on the straights.” Adding further, he said, “So it’s a tough battle on days like today and probably Miami will be something similar.”

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The British squad is currently in fifth place, trailing a stronger-looking Ferrari. The circuits in Miami will largely stay the same, attracting performance from teams like Red Bull and Aston Martin. In the midst of that, do you think the papaya team will be able to accomplish something miraculous?