Norris: The character of the MCL39 needs to be made more predictable

      Lando Norris started the new season perfectly: in Australia, he first won qualifying and then won the Grand Prix. The British McLaren driver is leading the individual World Championship standings for the first time in his career, but assures that he is not thinking about it yet.

      Lando Norris: "After the race in Melbourne, I spent a few days in Taiwan, just relaxing and recuperating, because there's not much to celebrate yet. I hope the weekend in Shanghai will be even better for us, and it will be a little easier for us.

      I think we had a great race in Australia, and at some point our advantage over our rivals reached 15 seconds, or what was it? It was only thanks to the safety car that they were able to catch up with us, so they were lucky.

      But now we have another weekend, another race, and we are full of hope. I can't say that we are so sure that everything will follow exactly the same scenario in Shanghai – for example, we expect that Ferrari will be able to perform much stronger now. We also saw that Red Bull is very fast.

      But if the qualification goes perfectly, then the advantage will still be on our side. However, the opponents are very close, so I need to improve in a number of aspects. In particular, my start in Melbourne wasn't bad, but it wasn't perfect. And I know why I lost my pace at the time of acceleration, but I also need to emphasize that although the car is working well, it's still not easy to drive.

      We know that Max Verstappen could drive at the same pace as us on a wet track, although we had a slight advantage on dry asphalt. In general, we have to work to make the car's behavior more predictable and make driving the MCL39 more comfortable. But overall we are at a good level, and there is nothing to complain about.

      Oscar Piastri and I can talk about some points that will help our team-based specialists determine more precisely the direction of the modernization of the car. Yes, it's fast, but we always want more.

      Although I'm leading the championship, I don't feel any additional pressure, it doesn't change anything for me, I try not to think about it and I'm not going to change my approach to work. The team doesn't need to change anything either. Only the first stage is behind us, and I believe that now we need to calm down a little and maintain maximum concentration.

      And I'm not going to think about winning the championship until at least half of the season is over."