Lando Norris has reportedly admitted the McLaren team’s 2021 contender is, at times, more suited to his Aussie teammate, Daniel Ricciardo.
McLaren was the first team to reveal their 2021 season contender at an online event, live-streamed back on February 15.
The MCL35M is an evolution of the 2020 contender, the MCL35, and benefits from aerodynamic and chassis developments alongside the introduction of a new power unit, supplied by Mercedes-AMG.
The livery of the MCL35M also underwent some subtle changes from the 2020 design, maintaining the iconic McLaren papaya orange and blue.
Ricciardo joins Norris for McLaren this season after a two-year stint on the grid with Renault.
The pair finished out the first race of the season, at the Bahrain International Circuit, with Lando in P4 and Daniel in P7.
When speaking to Autosport, Norris said Daniel’s driving style is better suited to some of the new aspects of the 2021 contender.
“Although Daniel is new to the car there are some differences with the car this year and how you have to drive it, at points his driving style is better for it and is more suited for it”, Norris told Autosport.
“How we’ve had to drive the car the last two seasons is kind of going away in a good way. That’s something I need to adjust to a little bit because the car is different this year.
“There’s room for improvement from my side, more in understanding how to drive this car. Not just how to learn from Daniel because I don’t think that’s the point of it, but still focusing on myself in terms of race pace, an area which wasn’t very good a couple of years ago.”
Racing resumes on April 18, at Imola for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
