Lando Norris is openly expecting McLaren to struggle again at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, as the team gets a first chance to seal the Formula 1 drivers’ championship.
Norris leads third-placed Max Verstappen by 49 points in the standings and needs to bring that gap to 58 points after the Las Vegas race for his Red Bull rival to be out of contention for the title.
But the Nevada track provided McLaren’s toughest challenge last year, as the MCL38 struggled badly with graining – to the extent that Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri failed to qualify or finish in the top five.
“It’s just very difficult, super low grip. I feel like I could drive a road car quicker than we drive at the minute…” Norris had tellingly commented after practice.
Fast-forward 12 months, and McLaren has overwhelmingly dominated the 2025 championship – at least on the constructors’ side. Team principal Andrea Stella said Las Vegas shouldn’t be as much of a challenge given this year’s Pirelli rubber doesn’t grain as much, but the expected cool conditions – potentially down to 7C – mean Norris still isn’t confident.
Asked in the Sao Paulo post-race press conference if the cold would hinder McLaren, the Briton replied: “Hinder, for sure. I think it was our worst race last year. So I’m not really looking forward to it.
“We’ve been trying to work quite hard on improving those things. We know Mercedes were incredibly strong there last year, as well as Red Bull and Ferrari. I think we were the bottom of those four.
“Obviously, we’ve improved a lot of things this year, so I’m not going to be too negative about it. I think there’s plenty to look forward to. We know Abu Dhabi and Qatar are ones we are looking forward to. Las Vegas just a little bit less, because they’ve been probably some of our weakest races over the last two years. So let’s wait and see.”
Lando Norris, McLaren
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images
Norris’ stance was perceived as repeatedly negative by a journalist who consequently asked him about his mindset in the context of his championship lead.
“I can say what I want,” Norris retorted. “I can think what I want. I always try and be as honest as I can be. If I don’t think we’re going to be quick, I don’t think we’re going to be quick.
“And I’m not saying I’m going to be 10th. I’m just saying I think it’s going to be difficult to win. We were a long way off – just go and look at the data from last year. Look at the race traces – we were miles off.
“There have been plenty of races where we’ve not been quick enough this year. It’s not like we’ve won every single race and you’re expecting me to say those things. I’m just giving my opinion on whether I think it’s going to be easy.
“I won last weekend by 30 seconds – like, very, very easy. I won today by pushing a lot more, only 10 seconds, and Max was probably the quickest out on track today.
“We’ve never been good in Vegas, so why am I going to think, ‘Yeah, it’s going to be fine’? I’m giving my honest opinion on how I think we’re going to be. We’ve never been good there, so I’m not the most confident about going into that race.
“Maybe I’ll win – then we’ll see. But I’m not going to lie and say, ‘Yeah, I’m very confident, and I think it’s going to be an easy weekend’, because I don’t think that’s how it’s going to be. So no – I mean, you’re very right to have your own opinion on what you think I should say and what I should not say and whatever, but I’ll do what I like.”
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