Lando Norris believes McLaren have work to do to tame a car that is “a bit all over the place” at the Mexico City Grand Prix after falling behind Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes in the main slots in Friday practice.
Facing an increasing challenge from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen’s return to the Drivers’ Championship, McLaren aims to return to winning ways for the first time in five races this weekend at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
But the constructors’ champions did not win any of Friday’s sessions, the first time that has happened on the first day of a Grand Prix weekend since June.
With Verstappen setting the pace in a more representative second practice session than the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, Norris finished fourth fastest with leading team-mate Oscar Piastri just 12th after his run on soft tires failed.
And while he still believed there were positive results from his only running session in the car, Norris said there were clear balance issues with the MCL39 to address, which held them back in one qualifying lap in particular.
“For sure, I think we’re in a reasonable place. I feel like I’ve made it quickly, I’ve been quite surprised,” said Norris, who sat out the first session for McLaren’s Mexican IndyCar driver Pat O’Ward as nine of the 10 F1 teams finished their final term with young drivers.
“My first lap was pretty good and my second lap was a good step. I felt like I found the limit quickly.”
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Lando Norris admitted McLaren ‘fell behind’ after lacking confidence during second practice.
“But it’s just holding us back a little bit. It’s not that it was a bad day, but otherwise we’re very good on Friday and everybody catches up on Saturday. We’re already a little behind, so we definitely have some work to do tonight. We have to say it’s a bad day.”
“The balance of the car is a bit all over the place – the same as the last couple of weeks. One-lap stuff we’re struggling with at all times.”
“We’re working hard, trying everything we can so we’ll see what we can do and find.”
Piastre says his start is “reasonable” despite his low position
Unlike Norris, Piastre finished both of Friday’s meetings in his car, although he missed a particularly bright day as he finished fourth and 12th fastest respectively in what appeared to be a continuation of his struggles from last week in Austin.
However, the Australian, whose title lead over Norris has been cut to 14 points and Verstappen to 40 points with five races remaining, probably sounded more upbeat in his end-of-day interview than his McLaren team-mate or Red Bull’s rival.
Downplaying his low position on the P2 timesheet, Piastri said: “The lap on the soft with little fuel was pretty average, so I’m not surprised by the lap time.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Sky Sports F1’s Jamie Chadwick and Jacques Villeneuve discuss Red Bull’s removal of the tape from Lando Norris’ grid at the US GP.
“I tried a lot of things, we’ll go through and see what worked and what didn’t, but overall I felt reasonable.”
“The biggest thing is to see what we can adjust for tomorrow and try to make things a bit more consistent.”
“There were a few things that we identified from Austin, obviously the weekend was pretty messy as well. We found a lot of things, all little things, but when you put them all together, they add up.”
Piastri believes McLaren will prove a match for Verstappen.
“I think so,” he added. “It will be tight, as always, but I think we have a good car under us.”
Ski Sports F1 Mexico City Grand Prix schedule
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Take a look back at some of the most dramatic moments that took place at the Mexico City Grand Prix
Saturday, October 25
18:15: Third practice of the Mexico City Grand Prix (session starts at 18:30)
21:00: Compilation of qualifications for the Mexico City Grand Prix*
22:00: QUALIFYING FOR THE MEXICAN GP*
Sunday, October 26
18.30: Grand Prix Sunday: Opening of the Mexico City Grand Prix*
20:00: MEXICO CITY GRAND PRICA*
22:00: Checkered flag: Mexico City Grand Prix reaction
*also in the Ski Sports main event
The exciting race for the Formula 1 title continues at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for the Mexico City Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Ski Sports from NOW – no contract, cancel anytime