McLaren are going from strength to strength as Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris crossed the line in a 1-2 finish for the F1 Spanish GP.
Despite contributing to a strong result for the team, Norris was no match for his teammate as he qualified and finished the race in P2. After the race, the Brit reflected on his own performance and whether he believes that McLaren’s dominance can continue into the rest of the season.
Slow off the line but confident in race pace
Though qualifying alongside his teammate on the front row, Norris soon lost second place to Max Verstappen on the race start. Norris reflected on his slow start off the line, joking about Piastri not giving him a slipstream.
“I don’t remember. I just remember the lights going up pretty quickly, and obviously I was a little bit caught out by that. So, yeah. And then I just couldn’t get a slipstream. Oscar didn’t give me a slipstream down to Turn 1! It was hard to commit into the braking of 1 and Max got past. So it was a long race.”
Despite having an admittedly slow start, Norris had confidence in the McLaren pace. He therefore took a conservative approach to Verstappen’s overtake. Instead of retaliating straight away, Norris played the long game and maintained his confidence in McLaren’s race pace over Red Bull.
“I think we knew our pace was going to be strong, so I didn’t need to do anything too risky into Turn 1. But, yeah, I don’t think I lost out in the race. I think Oscar drove a very good race today and had a good day yesterday. I had the pace to go with him, but not enough to try and catch up and put him under threat.”
Norris no match for Piastri at the Spanish GP
Going into this final race of this European triple-header, Norris was coming off the back of his win in Monaco. Despite this extra boost of confidence, Norris was unable to translate this into another win.
His teammate, Oscar Piastri, impressed by converting his pole position into a first place finish without much of a challenge from the rest of the field.
Norris spoke highly of his teammate’s performance in Barcelona and how he could not challenge the Australian driver.
“Oscar drove a very good race today. Didn’t quite have the pace to match him, but we gave it our best shot. It’s a long race, you know, anything could have happened at the end. We both got pretty sideways with the Safety Car restart. It was a good fun race, you know, and for us as a team to finish one-two is even better.”
Stricter FIA regulations not affecting McLaren
Off the back of their first Constructors’ Championship win in 26 years last season, McLaren have kept up their strong form into the 2025 Formula 1 season.
Theories spread up and down the paddock that a key factor in McLaren’s recent success has been down to their manipulation of flexi-wings. The FIA cracked down on flexi-wings for Barcelona, introducing stricter regulations for all teams.
After the Spanish GP’s strong result for McLaren, Norris responded to whether there will be a track where McLaren will not be so dominant.
“I hope not, but the team are doing a very good job. We have a lot of good competition. There was a lot of complaints about our car, and they introduced this TD [technical directive] and changed nothing. The team have done a very good job to just give us a good all-round car and the best car on the grid. So, we’re very proud to be able to go and drive those cars every weekend. So, it’s credit to the team that we have to give day in and day out.”
Though happy with the car’s performance compared to the rest of the field, Norris emphasised that qualifying is where their competition may arise.
“But like Oscar said, there’s still places where we’re vulnerable, especially in qualifying as it gets very close. Obviously, yesterday was the biggest margin of the year, but I think people seem to quickly forget how close the other qualifying sessions have been. They’ve been split by hundredths and thousandths, and there hasn’t been smooth sailing for us in every single one. So, I think that will be the case in future ones.”
The Spanish GP marks one third of the way into the 2025 season, though Norris emphasised that there is still ample time for the other teams to challenge McLaren.
“But it’s clear we just have the best car on average, and we still seem stronger in the race. Although, it’s clear that the others are catching up. Our gaps in the race were probably a lot bigger in the beginning of the year than they are now. So I do think that our competitors are catching up. But, yeah, we just need to keep our heads down and keep working hard.”
Norris opens up about mental health
Facing the pressure of fighting for the World Championship, Lando Norris has not shied away from showing his emotions.
The British driver reflected on how he handles bad mental health days. He spoke on this in the connect of poor results and how he shuts up any intrusive thoughts.
“It’s tricky. I mean, sometimes, you don’t. Sometimes you don’t, even when you want to be thinking of all the positives and things like that. But I think what I’ve learned more to do is turn those thoughts into productive things. Turn them into ways to improve, to understand things. Turn them into positive attributes, I guess, rather than letting them bring me down as much. But I think it’s—I don’t know if it’s all normal, but I’m sure a lot of people have similar things.”
He then went on to emphasise the importance of his close circle around him, especially on tough days.
“Everyone has those great days. Everyone has bad days. But yeah, I don’t need other people to tell me things. I have my own team, my own people around me who tell me when I’m doing good and when I’m not. And that’s all I really need. I don’t need other people, and I don’t need to listen or look at anything else. I only care about those people who are closest to me, who understand me and know me.
“But also, having them around—like having a good team around me—is probably one of the most important things because I still love those trickier days. But, yeah, the main thing is understanding them and learning how to turn them into productive, positive things.”
