Lando Norris was unhappy with McLaren’s long-run pace, claiming he could drive a road car quicker in the low-grip conditions.
The 25-year-old was left frustrated after the opening two practice sessions of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Despite finishing third and second in FP1 and FP2 respectively, the Briton described McLaren’s long-run pace as “shocking”.
The second practice session saw Norris finish only 0.011 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton at the top. However, his frustrations vented towards his team’s high fuel pace, despite the low fuel being competitive.
Front tyre graining
The low track temperature caused many drivers to lock up their front tyre and go deep into a corner. Norris said that he had been struggling with front graining, which is impacting his long-run performance. The McLaren driver said:
“It’s just very difficult, super low grip. “I feel like I could drive a road car quicker than we drive at the minute…”
“I think the low-fuel stuff has been okay,” he explained. “The high-fuel, that was shocking. So, yeah, plenty of things to look into.
“This kind of combinations of things, and when we struggle with the front graining and stuff like that, I’m just not very good at it. So it’s always a bit of a struggle for me.
“But we’ve a good amount of time to work on it. So yeah, two halves really. Good low-fuel and difficult high-fuel.”
Still in contention
Norris is on a tight rope in terms of the Drivers’ Championship. Leader Max Verstappen only needs to outscore Norris by 3 points to secure his fourth World Championship in a row, following the footsteps of Sebastian Vettel.
However, Red Bull have admitted to making a mistake with its rear wing. The Austrian team believes the rear wing they are using in Las Vegas is costing them six tenths in the final sector. The team has revealed that they have to stick with it and cannot change it.
In an important weekend to try and keep the championship hopes alive, Norris does not feel confident with its long-run pace for Sunday. However, his team-mate Oscar Piastri believes the first two practice sessions were not representative due to the constant track evolution.
“Every lap we do, the track’s getting better and better,” said the Australian. “But we knew what to expect this time, at least.
“It’s been an interesting day. I think the pace seems reasonable, just a bit of tidying up. And if you don’t get the lap here, then you quickly lose a lot of time with the track evolving so much.”
Mercedes have topped both practice sessions so far – thanks to Hamilton. However, the Australian feels McLaren are not out of contention for the race win yet.
“Mercedes have looked very quick today,” he added. “Very, very quick. Ferrari’s been pretty strong as well. But I think we’re definitely in the mix.”
Feature Image Credit: Chris Graythen via Getty Images