"We need the improvements everywhere" - Lando Norris confident that McLaren will bring in upgrades throughout the 2022 F1 season

Lando Norris is confident that McLaren can keep bringing upgrades that will get them closer to the frontrunners in the 2022 season.

Norris stated that their car needs to be “improved everywhere,” with a bit more focus on medium and slow corners.

Speaking at the Imola GP post-race media session, he said:

“If I wanted to speak in simple terms, we need the improvements everywhere. High speed, medium speed, slow speed, maybe more bias towards the slower to medium speed. But as a package, everything needs to be just that next level.

“The guys and girls [at the factory] are focusing hard to come up with these new parts. And yeah, I'm confident over the length of the season, we can continue to bring more and try and get closer to these [Ferrari and Red Bull] guys.”

Norris added that the MCL35 has an inherently good balance and is nicer to drive. However, he believes the car lacks significant amounts of downforce compared to its rivals, which means it is just slower than others. He said:

“As we've said, in the past, the balance has been good. And we're happy with the balance, it's just, you do a good lap, you do something that feels good, and you just slow because you go around every corner, slower than the others."

Explaining the changes they’ve made to the car since their woeful performance at the season-opening Bahrain GP, Norris said the team has only improved “little things.”

Apart from a new floor, the team has reportedly not brought any major upgrades. He added that their impressive pace at the Imola GP was more due to them having a clean weekend rather than improvements made to the car itself.

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Ricciardo and Norris provided similar car feedback to McLaren

Lando Norris has revealed that he and his teammate Daniel Ricciardo gave similar feedback about the car, thereby driving McLaren’s developmental focus in the same direction.

Speaking at the Imola post-race media session, he said:

“A lot of Daniel’s and my comments are in line. We have different slightly different driving styles, so they're not always identical but in how we want to improve the car and get quicker, they're pretty much exactly the same. So, that's a good thing.”

Ricciardo seems to be faring much better with McLaren this year after struggling to match Norris’ pace last season.

Ricciardo struggled to get to terms with the MCL35M last season due to its inherent understeer nature, which conflicted with his driving style.