Shanghai, China (AFP) — World champion Lando Norris said Thursday that McLaren has made some progress since a disappointing opening to the season in Australia, but warned they still need to “improve in all areas.”

Pre-season favorite George Russell led home a Mercedes one-two in Melbourne, ahead of both Ferraris, with Britain’s Norris fifth — 51 seconds behind the race winner.

All weekend, Norris had railed against the latest version of F1 cars, which have a 50-50 split between conventional and electrical power, saying they were “probably the worst” the sport had produced.

Ahead of this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, the second stop in the calendar, Norris struck a slightly more upbeat tone.

“It should be a little bit simpler, and therefore we expect to be a bit closer,” he told reporters.

“Even if we were to go back to Melbourne now, though, I think we would expect to be closer anyway from what we’ve understood and been able to learn and figure out.”

“But at the same time, we also know we have to improve in all areas, it’s not just the power unit, it’s the car itself.”

“It’s decent, we’re in a good starting position, but we still want it to be better than what it is currently.”

Norris at least fared better than his teammate Oscar Piastri, who crashed out of his home Australian Grand Prix before it even began.

Piastri, who qualified fifth fastest in the Melbourne season-opener, hit the kerb at Turn 4 and spun into the concrete barriers on the way to the grid.

“It’s certainly not going to be my favourite moment of my career, but I think I still tried to learn as much as I can from the race,” he said in Shanghai, where he won the grand prix last year.

“There’s definitely positives to take in amongst last weekend, but I think back to the start of last year, I’m only two points worse off even though it’s a lot more embarrassing.”