Why was Lando Norris still not happy with the McLaren despite a stellar 2023 F1 Austrian GP weekend?

McLaren driver Lando Norris was not entirely happy with his performance at the Austrian Grand Prix main race on Sunday despite finishing P4.

Driving an upgraded MCL-60, the young British driver showcased his prowess around the Red Bull Ring as he finished ahead of the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso in the main race.

After the race, Norris stated that although he was happy with the finish and was pleasantly surprised by the car's performance on Sunday, there were still improvements to be made. He said (via Autosport):

"I was a bit nervous coming into the race, that the race pace was going to let us down today but actually it was better than I was expecting which was a good surprise. It's still not great, Fernando [Alonso] was clearly quicker a chunk every lap, and I am almost crashing in every corner. But to be fifth [fourth after Sainz's penalty] shows we’ve made a good step forward, so I am very happy with that."

"The car just goes quicker around every corner but the way you have to drive is exactly the same which is our next issue to tackle. Things that we’ve been complaining about all year that are still the same but just at a higher level, so I feel I can be really confident if we can tackle these issues."

Lando Norris added:

"I feel like they are letting us down a lot at the minute, so it is not just about downforce, it is about handling and how you handle the car. More technical things that we need to tackle and understand. When we do that, I am confident we can fight the quicker cars ahead of us."

Norris is currently 10th in the 2023 drivers' standings, sandwiched between the two Alpine drivers, Esteban Ocon (9th) and Pierre Gasly (11th).

"The car is quicker, it is quicker everywhere": Lando Norris about the new upgrades on the car

The McLaren driver claimed that the new upgrades have definitely worked and made the car quicker since the beginning of the year. Norris was also asked if the performance in Austria gave them confidence ahead of the upcoming British GP. He replied:

"100%. The car is quicker, it is quicker everywhere. It is just very difficult to drive still. Plenty of things to work on and I think we have more things coming, so I don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves. I think this has been our best race of the year so I will make sure I’ll let everyone in the team know that."

It will be fascinating to see where Lando Norris and McLaren end up in Silverstone in front of their home crowd.