MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Formula One champion Lando Norris is struggling with his new-age McLaren and was left frustrated after finishing sixth in Sunday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Norris’ title defense comes amid sweeping changes to the car, with the 26-year-old British driver having endured a difficult weekend at Albert Park so far.
advertise
F1’s new cars are extremely complex, with unprecedented changes to the chassis and powerplant, with an almost 50:50 output split between the turbo 1.6-litre V6 engine and electrical energy harvested by the brakes, requiring a new, often counter-intuitive way of driving.
“We’ve experienced the best cars in the history of Formula 1, the best cars to drive and probably the worst cars,” he said after qualifying on Saturday.
Not only does he have to master the car’s complex energy management system, he also has to stay on track – with the Briton losing significant time in Friday’s two practice sessions.
“Just get into a rhythm of lifting here and there to get faster, use gears you don’t want to use, and understand that when you lift more, you’ll brake later, but you have to brake less,” Norris said.
advertise
“That’s why laps are more valuable than ever. In the past, you missed P1 and you didn’t care too much. Now, you miss five laps and not only do you have to figure things out faster as a driver, the engine can’t learn what it needs to learn and then you’re at a disadvantage.”
___
AP Racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
