Lando Norris opens up on how the Pirelli tires and the McLaren hamper his qualifying performance

Lando Norris has explained that his naturally aggressive driving style has not been compatible with the McLaren or the Pirelli tires, leading to him getting compromised over a lap. Norris has been brilliant in the last few seasons, so much so that the team has him locked on a multi-year contract.

However, he feels that the new generation of cars and the Pirellis have not been compatible with his natural driving style. The new ground-effect cars are different to what the previous generation of cars were as they are much faster over the fast speed sections compared to their older counterparts.

There is a trade-off as the current cars are not as efficient in the slow-speed sections. As a result, driving styles that involve hustling a car through the slow-speed sections have to be changed.

That adaptation is what Lando Norris referred to when he talks about one area where he struggles to find the best out of McLaren. As quoted by Motorsport.com, the driver explained why he feels qualifying is one area where he needs work. He said:

“In qualifying, I've always been wanting to push quite a bit more in certain areas and kind of want to go out and just be attacking. And I have to do the complete opposite. It's a hard one to get my head around because I want to go out and find another level in qualifying, and you just can't do that with these tyres and with our car. You almost have to drive it the opposite way."

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Lando Norris on how not adapting fast enough is hurting him

The McLaren driver also opened up on how not adapting quickly to the changes in car characteristics punishes him sometimes.

Overall, Lando Norris has been a brilliant qualifier. The young driver has put together some impressive qualifying sessions. However, he's also made a few mistakes here and there that have cost him over a lap.

Talking about how he's working to find the perfect solution, Norris said:

“So there's something, almost from being used to the cars a few years ago, that's kind of punishing me now and not adapting quick enough. But that's something that's up to me.”

He added:

“That's my job to adapt and to do a better job on, but also just with how our car is, how you have to drive it, it continues to be quite a tricky car to drive. To execute a perfect qualifying lap every single time, it's not an easy thing to do. But it's something we're working on.”

Lando Norris has had an impressive start to the season. He's already achieved a podium this year in Melbourne and will be eyeing another at the race in Suzuka.