Lando Norris believes that McLaren’s main weakness will be put to the test at the Formula 1 Italian GP. The Briton pointed out the team’s difficulties in chicanes and low-speed corners, characteristics present on the Monza circuit.
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Norris arrives at the Italian stage buoyed by two consecutive wins, in Hungary and the Netherlands, as well as having reduced the gap to Kimi Antonelli in the championship lead to 83 points. Despite the positive moment, the British driver acknowledges that the Italian track may be less favorable to McLaren than the circuits of recent races.
According to Norris, the problem in slow corners has accompanied the team since the beginning of the current power unit regulations. Monza features long straights, heavy braking, and tight chicanes, a combination that can highlight precisely this limitation of the car.
When asked about the existence of an immediate solution, Norris was straightforward: “There’s not much we can do, really. Every car has strengths and weaknesses and is designed in slightly different ways, and ours is simply not where we want it to be in this type of corner and at this speed,” he said.
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The team is already working to correct this deficiency, but Norris acknowledged that the process may take time: “It’s something the whole team is working on at the factory, and it’s more a matter of clearly recognizing that this has been our biggest weakness lately, and we know we might struggle again here in these types of corners,” he added.
One possibility would be to compromise some performance in high-speed corners to try to gain performance in slower zones, but Norris pointed out that the change does not guarantee a solution: “We’ll see what we can do to maybe compromise a bit of the high speed to try to get something in low speed,” he concluded.
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