McLaren’s Lando Norris upgrade includes F1 feature never seen before, says ex-Sauber designer

Norris managed to trim four tenths off Max Verstappen’s pole time at the Austrian Grand Prix, a solid step forward for a driver who’s had his share of qualifying struggles this year.

The update has allowed Norris to tap into a driving style similar to Fernando Alonso’s, relying more on steering feedback through his hands.

Zander broke down why this particular change has improved feedback for Norris and how it allows McLaren to use greater negative steering angles, increasing tyre grip in the process.

“I can tell you that in the past, I have never seen a Formula 1 car with a negative steering yaw, always positive. I know that a negative caster angle can offer advantages under certain circumstances,” said Zander.

“If you don’t have wishbones, but multi-link axles where you can create these imaginary joint centres, you can actually achieve very good negative steering angles.”

Lando Norris closed the gap to Oscar Piastri after McLaren’s car update

Before the changes introduced at the Canadian Grand Prix, Norris was falling behind Piastri in a crucial part of race weekends, and it was starting to show in his results.

Norris usually started off stronger, often leading Piastri early in qualifying. That advantage sometimes carried over into Q2 as well.

But by the time Q3 came around, it was usually Piastri who came out on top. While Norris has closed that gap since the upgrades were introduced, he’s still a few races behind in that head-to-head.

Norris’ performances in qualifiers now remain one of the standout points of the season. He still needs to improve to get the better of the Australian driver, but technical issues no longer seem to be holding him back.