Norris reveals why he feels happier in his McLaren than in Shanghai

Having dominated the practice sessions at the Japanese Grand Prix, Lando Norris finished only second behind reigning champion Max Verstappen. However, the Briton has revealed that he has been much happier in his MCL39 so far this weekend than in China a fortnight ago.

Max Verstappen was struggling for outright pace across the practice sessions on Friday and Saturday morning, but he managed to turn his fortunes around for the all-important qualifying session.

Following Friday's practice day, the reigning champion made a series of changes to his RB21, including tweaks to the weight distribution, aerodynamic balance, suspension setup, which has allowed him to take on the fight against the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

The Dutchman delivered a brilliant lap in the closing stages of qualifying, posting a record-breaking time of 1m26.983s tp beat Norris and Piastri by 12 and 44 thousands of a second.

Asked about his feelings after the nail-biting qualifying session, Norris insistes that while he was happy with the balance of his MCL39, it was simply not enough for pole position.

"I went two tenths quicker than the Q2 lap, so not enough, but just a little bit. It's a track where you just kind of chip away in different areas. And like Max says, commit a bit more in those high-speed corners.

"But I was pretty happy with my lap, honestly. I tried pushing on a good amount more in Q3 Run 1 and it didn’t work out clearly, so I just had to kind of peg it back a lot. I was happy with the balance and happy with the car at the end. The margin is so small – I think it was a hundredth in it – and you’d probably say yes, but yeah, just not enough for pole."

Asked to compare his sentiments regarding the setup of his car, Norris said that he has felt much more comfortable in his MCL39 than in China a fortnight ago.

"Much happier than China. Yeah, the car's a lot more back to my liking. I've got some front end in the car and I'm much, much happier with that. I've been feeling confident all weekend. If quali was in FP1 and it was a Sprint race, I feel like I’d be much further ahead, but everyone's good enough that by the time you get to quali, they kind of catch up a bit.

"I've been feeling good, the car's been feeling good from the off as well. We've been chipping away. I think between both of us we've been quickest in every session bar this one, so it's the little frustrating one. The corners I still struggle with, the corners I'm still not happy with, are the corners I still just don't have the front end and I don't have the grip in the car when I need it from the front.

"It's clear what suits me and what doesn't, or just what allows me to be quick and what doesn't. China was one of those weaker tracks, and we come here and the car’s a lot more how I want it. Much better again.

Regarding his chances in the race, Norris said: "No one knows what the weather is going to be like tomorrow, so no point trying to think of too many things. We’ll do our homework tonight. It's probably going to be a bit of a race like Melbourne, and that was an exciting race for everyone.

"Now I've got to try and do some overtakes, you know? So we'll see. It's exciting. I think the unknown of the weather is going to make it exciting and nerve-racking for everyone. And I've got to try to get past the guy on my left, so yeah, excited."