Norris has "strong list" of things to improve F1 performance in '20

Norris's debut F1 year in 2019 included standout performances in Bahrain and Austria, where he topped F1's midfield in sixth position, but his campaign was also marred by bad luck.

He finished 47 points adrift of his team-mate Carlos Sainz, who finished sixth in the championship standings while Norris took 11th.

Norris feels his main areas to improve are in his weekend processes, as well as learning more about the McLaren car, which he thinks Sainz used to his advantage in 2019.

"There is a general few things that are repetitive on some weekends, when we get to qualifying, how Carlos finds his time and how good he is at adapting to track conditions and everything - things like that," Norris told Autosport.

"One of the biggest things I'll be working on this winter is my knowledge of the car - how it works, not just how to drive it faster around corners or brake later or whatever.

"But then there's some things in driving as well that I know I need to improve and every weekend it's kind of similar things - I get a little bit better at but not enough.

"So when it comes to next season I [need to] put it together again, same as other things.

"I'm able to use those different techniques in different corners and different tracks.

"Some things are repetitive, some things are just more [about] knowledge and a bit of everything. I think I have a strong list of what I need to work on."

Norris was surrounded by a new group of people during his rookie F1 campaign at McLaren, which followed his runner-up finish in the 2018 Formula 2 season.

He says his rollercoaster year 2019 has brought the team closer together, and helped it learn ahead of '20.

"I'm happy with the progress I've made, the progress we made - my engineers, the team I work with - and I think it's put us in a much better position for next year," Norris explained.

"It's not like we're only ever focusing on driving, it's been a lot of the off-track stuff away from the track as well.

"We've been trying to keep on top of [things] and improve at the same time.

"Formula 1 isn't just a game of who can drive the best, there's a whole package you need.

"Some of the time it's just been [about] focusing on all these different areas.

"[I had] up and down races and everything [in 2019] but hopefully being able to put everything together for ['20] when it's going to count even more."