The “jigsaw” McLaren is solving after shining on its weaker F1 circuits

McLaren was braced for a difficult triple-header with races in Texas, Mexico and Brazil on three circuits that it feared would expose its slow-speed weakness and not cater to its high-downforce prowess.

But the team’s genuine pessimism proved unfounded as it scored another podium with Lando Norris at the US Grand Prix, and the Briton produced a stellar drive to move up from 17th to fifth in Mexico, his race pace easily being good enough for a…