Lando Norris pinpoints McLaren’s big problem and plan to fix it ahead of Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

The Briton ended the opener in Bahrain without a point down in 15th, while teammate Daniel Ricciardo was one place ahead in 14th

Lando Norris maintains McLaren have a “downforce” problem and that it is “not a simple fix” after the Formula 1 season opener.

The Briton endured a disappointing race in Bahrain, finishing without a point down in 15th, while teammate Daniel Ricciardo was one place ahead in 14th.

Despite a promising time in Barcelona, F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain meant expectations were low heading into Sunday, and Norris concedes there is a lot of work to do to change the team’s potential for 2022.

“It’s not a simple fix,” Norris conceded on Any Driven Monday. “At times the balance in fuel is relatively decent, but we end up going slower than the majority.

“We don’t have enough downforce, front and rear, total load, there are definitely some things we can try and adapt to and change to make it work better. But it’s not that simple.

“The philosophy on the car and understanding how to make it properly, it’s not easily done.It’s maybe not able to change week to week, we need to understand it.

“We’ll see, some ideas to try different things, try and understand how it needs to work and the setup for that, we’ll try on Friday.

“It might not be a test of pure lap time, but it’ll be understanding if there’s something we’re missing. We can’t use that excuse, the breaks, it’s simply the car is not quick enough, it’s not grippy enough, there’s not enough downforce. It’s not got enough downforce, and that’s the focus we need to work on now.