Lando Norris claims a resurgent McLaren has helped his confidence grow, not least because he is now having to think less behind the wheel.
The first inkling of McLaren’s stunning about-turn in form compared to their miserable start to the year appeared in the Austrian Grand Prix in which Norris capitalised on the first raft of upgrades by qualifying and finishing fourth.
With another round of updates on the MCL60 for the British GP, Norris started and finished second, proving to be a key result for not only the team, but also him personally.
Although McLaren exercised a degree of caution going into the race in Hungary, the package of developments again proved their worth as Norris was again runner-up, scoring back-to-back podiums for the first time in his career.
The 23-year-old is still far from happy with the car, though, but the overall impact of the last few races is having a profound effect.
“I think my general pace and ability to put laps together, and things like this, has improved, not as much as I would like,” said Norris.
“The car still doesn’t handle anywhere like what I would want from a car. If you said ‘What do you need from a perfect car?’, I feel it’s really far away from what I want.
“But its head is a little bit in that direction, which is a good thing for me. It’s how I want to be able to drive and push the car.
“It has improved my confidence, I guess.”
Norris concedes that last year he was at a loss with the MCL36 which he claims was “inconsistent” and that despite appearing to be confident, he “had no idea how to drive the car”.
“I would come in and they would say ‘What’s the problem?’ From one lap to another, it just changed and I didn’t know how to improve and so on.”
A few upgrades later, and the difference is striking for Norris, leaving his mind with less clutter and able to concentrate on simply driving.
“Now I feel like it’s a slightly clearer direction that I need to be working in, which is a good thing,” he said.
“I can just focus on more simple things with my driving, so it (his performance at Silverstone) improved my confidence quite a bit, not to the level that I still want, but to go out and drive how I want, to feel confident and just drive freely, to not have to think about it too much.
“It makes a big difference. Maybe it’s how my how brain works but the more I think the worse I do. Now I have to think less which is a good thing.”
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