McLaren shift gears for 2024: Lando Norris eyes sweeping changes

Norris believes McLaren are now poised to tackle a broader spectrum of improvements, signalling a potential game-changer for the upcoming 2024 Formula 1 campaign.

The season kickstarted with McLaren struggling at the back of the pack, but a relentless commitment to development saw their car, the MCL60, ascend through the ranks. With nine top-three finishes, McLaren concluded the season as a formidable force, securing fourth place in the Constructors' Championship.

In a media interaction, Norris expressed optimism about the significant changes awaiting McLaren in the next season. He asserted, "I expect almost bigger changes than we've had over the last year." The British driver highlighted the team's newfound capacity to address multiple aspects simultaneously, a luxury they didn't have in their earlier struggles.

"When you're still last, you try to focus a little more on one thing—just making the car a little bit quicker," Norris explained. "Now I think we're in a much better position that we can focus on some of the finer details, details which we've not really been able to improve much at all over the last five years."

Notably, Norris emphasized a shift in focus from core pace improvement to refining finer details that have eluded the team's attention for years. The driver believes these nuanced enhancements will have a broad impact, influencing qualifying, race pace, and overall performance.

"I think now we're more capable than ever of trying to focus on them [weaknesses] and improve them," Norris affirmed. "Some small things can make a big difference. So if we can work on that, then I'm confident we can have a very good car next year. A more consistent car is really the main thing that we want to have."

The 2023 season marked McLaren's most consistently competitive performance since the inception of the turbo hybrid era in 2014. Norris's anticipation of more significant changes for 2024 suggest a team eager to build on their recent success and address long-standing challenges.

As the 2023 season concludes, Formula 1 teams and drivers enter a brief hiatus before gearing up for the 2024 season. The action kicks off with official F1 pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, set to unfold over three days from February 23-25. The motorsport world eagerly awaits to see if McLaren's ambitious plans translate into further podium glory in the highly anticipated 2024 F1 season.

 

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