Norris not expecting ‘big step’ from McLaren as he sets out expectations for 2025 pecking order

Lando Norris has stated that he is not expecting McLaren to be a “big step” ahead of their rivals entering into 2025, with the Briton anticipating that the squad will be “tied” with the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull at the front.

The 2024 season proved to be an increasingly strong one for McLaren, the Woking outfit having closed the gap on their rivals to eventually secure their first Teams’ Championship since 1998.

However, speaking during pre-season testing in Bahrain, Norris cautioned that the team still have areas to work on when asked how the new MCL39 challenger compared to the car that he drove at last year’s finale in Abu Dhabi.

“It feels similar, which is a good start – that’s where we want it to start, at least,” Norris explained. “Nothing has been majorly addressed. It’s not like that much has changed from what we’ve tried to do.

BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - FEBRUARY 28: Lando Norris of Great Britain driving the (4) McLaren MCL39 — Norris highlighted the rear of the McLaren 2025 car as an area for improvement during pre-season testing in Bahrain

“We’ve just tried to make the car quicker all round and add more load – that’s the most simple way of looking at it, honestly.

“We still want to try and focus on some areas more than others. We’ve struggled a bit more with the rear than what we would have liked [during the first two days of testing].

“But it’s all early days, we’re not looking at absolute outright performance – if we went into qualifying now, I’m sure we would change some things.”

Norris went on to reiterate that the focus would be on ensuring that the team can battle from the beginning of the season this time around, with this not having been the case in 2024.

Lando Norris ‘exploring different avenues’ with McLaren at Bahrain testing

“I think if we want to improve anything at the minute, it’s still the rear of the car,” the 25-year-old said. “The more you can improve the rear, the more everything just gets better, but the rest of it feels correct and it feels like it’s in the same ballpark.

“I don’t think we’re expecting to be a big step ahead of anyone – we’re expecting to be tied alongside the guys to my right [Red Bull and Ferrari]. But if we’re just there fighting from the beginning, that’s our target.

“Considering how the last few years have been, if we can just be there fighting from the off, then we’ll be happy.”