Norris is still not "back to the feeling" he had last year, but praises McLaren's upgrades to the suspension

Although McLaren driver Lando Norris is still searching for the feeling he had with his F1 car last year, the eight-time F1 race winner claims that the Woking-based outfit's recent upgrades to the front suspension of the MCL39 has clearly brought the car in a more satisfying working window.

McLaren ended last season as the strongest team, and the British outfit has carried this form over to the current season. However, Lando Norris did not look comfortable behind the wheel of his MCL39 despite his car's dominant form, having struggled to extract the most from his car in qualifying conditions.

Despite the technical dominance, McLaren have brought upgrades to the MCL39 on a regular basis. The Canadian Grand Prix saw the papaya team introduce a new front suspension, albeit only Norris elected to use the new design.

Championship leader Oscar Piastri has refused to update his own car with the new configuration which means that the two McLaren driver have diverged in terms of their front suspension geometry since mid-June.

The upgrade involved the mounting points to the front upright, and McLaren had intended to improve the feel that the driver gets through the steering wheel to better understand what the car is doing when cornering.

Asked how the modified suspension influenced his feelings behind the wheel of the MCL39, Norris conceded that he cannot give a clear answer, but he believed that the tweak was a step in the right direction.

"Honestly, and it's even an answer I can't give to the team that clearly, if you ask me now, is it better or not? I can't give a definitive answer. It's something that we believe might shift things in the right direction.

"That's how small of a change it was. It wasn't like, we know this is going to help, it's going to do a better job. It's also not a performance item. It's not something that we've got and gone, now we're going to be quicker. It's something that might change how the feeling is to the steering and to the front suspension.

"But because you go track to track, it's not something you can necessarily just change between sessions. It's not where I can just go out and give a clean answer to the team. It's one where I’ve just got to have the confidence and belief in the guys and girls who have put it together and thought of it believe it's in the right direction to give me maybe some more feelings or a better feeling, or more of a contrast in feeling.

"And I'm happy enough that that's a good enough answer, that they think it's better, and I'm confident that it's going to give me that feeling, but it's not something I can go, I'm feeling a lot more in the car. I certainly felt more in Austria.

"Canada is a very separate one and the car is always all over the place in Canada, so it's hard to judge things there. But certainly in Canada, I felt like we unlocked a little bit more, but I also don't feel like I'm still back to the level necessarily that I was at last year with feeling, understanding, and things like that.

Norris continued: "But it's a complicated one at the same time because a lot of other things have changed too. So, as a team, we're working hard. Obviously, I'm working very hard with my team to understand more things and tried more stuff in the simulator and expand my vocabulary of driving in a way.

"But it's, yeah, also one where I guess I have to use my experience of being a driver and saying last year I was very confident that I had more knowledge, more feeling through the car, because I'm the last guy that will ever say, guys, the car is just not good or isn't as good or whatever. I never want to blame it in that perspective, but I certainly wasn't happy.

"I made that clear to the team, and I think I was therefore in a position where the team got to work on their side and I got to work on my side. Together, we made some improvements, and I'm happy with that so far," concluded Norris.