Norris admits McLaren 'nowhere near good enough' in slow-speed corners after Dutch GP sprint defeat

Lando Norris admitted McLaren’s MCL40 is fundamentally compromised in slow-speed corners after the reigning world champion was passed by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on lap 18 of Saturday’s Dutch Grand Prix sprint race at Zandvoort, finishing behind both George Russell and Leclerc.

McLaren had arrived in the Netherlands with a fresh upgrade package targeting the rear of the car — including a new rear wing assembly — designed to build on the gains that delivered victory in Hungary. Early signs were encouraging: Norris qualified second for the sprint, just under a tenth behind Russell, with Oscar Piastri fourth.

But the race told a different story. Rather than pressuring Russell at the front, Norris found himself defending against Leclerc, who had started on the softer compound while the rest of the frontrunners opted for mediums. Leclerc not only held on but grew stronger as the laps wound down, eventually making his move stick with six laps remaining.

For McLaren, the most troubling detail was not the result itself but what produced it: their rear tyres degraded faster than a rival running a more brittle compound, pointing to a set-up or driving-style issue rather than a straightforward tyre-choice gamble by Ferrari.

“We have to admit that our performance so far seems to be better over a single lap than in continuous laps,” team principal Andrea Stella said. “We were losing performance because of rear tyre degradation, some low-speed performance to improve. We need to look as to why we have so much rear tyre degradation, which rather than compound might have to do with car set-up and overall driving style.”

Norris was blunt about the car’s limitations. “I just don’t have the pace in general, especially the slow-speed corners,” he said. “We struggled so much compared to the others. The car is very good in high speed and it’s just nowhere near good enough for slow speed. We can’t over-push in high speed during the race and therefore we can’t optimise our strengths.”

The world champion acknowledged the circuit had exposed a weakness already visible in Budapest, where McLaren won despite the same slow-corner deficit. “Here there’s a lot more of the very, very slow speed,” Norris said. “So no, I’m not surprised at all. It’s exactly what we expected.”

McLaren still has one opportunity to overhaul its set-up before Saturday afternoon qualifying, with Stella indicating the team will investigate both mechanical adjustments and driving approach to limit rear tyre wear for the grand prix.