Lando Norris describes his car with a metaphor any exhausted driver will recognise: the MCL40 feels “on a knife edge on every single corner.” He has to force both the front and rear of the car with no room to let it work on its own — an experience he calls “mentally draining.”

The practical fallout is specific: that instability is what’s stopping him from stringing together clean qualifying laps. Norris admits the “magical” moments, like his Madrid pole, simply don’t happen anymore — not because he’s lost his edge, but because “we’re simply not quick enough.” Fourth at Singapore was his best result in a stretch that included a DNF in Azerbaijan, ninth in Bahrain and eighth in the Singapore Sprint.

McLaren’s lead over Red Bull in the battle for third in the constructors’ championship has shrunk to just seven points, down from 76 after the Spanish GP. The irony stings: before the summer break, Norris carried the season with three poles and two wins, in Budapest and Zandvoort. The last real upgrade landed right around then, in Hungary — and ever since, the MCL40 has been stuck fighting short gear ratios and excess drag, while the reigning champion defends his title in a car that isn’t doing him many favours.

Source: RacingNews365