There’s plenty of optimism at McLaren heading into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as the team expects to ‘well and truly’ compete amongst the front runners come Sunday.
McLaren demonstrated strong pace during Friday’s practice despite a ‘messy’ FP2 session which saw lengthy disruptions, however there is still work to complete overnight due to a lack of sufficient long running.
Lando Norris was just 0.043s off the benchmark set by Charles Leclerc after the Briton sat out the day’s earlier running as IndyCar driver and newly confirmed 2024 reserve Pato O’Ward fulfilled the team’s rookie obligations in FP1.
Although he found better one-lap pace than the Red Bulls, Norris was wary that there was still plenty of work to do overnight after completing just a handle of push laps on Friday.
“It was decent, messy of course,” said Norris following an FP2 session which was twice red-flagged; A shunt from Carlos Sainz brought the second hour of running to a stop after just eight minutes, and, after a 20-minute delay, a second stoppage came following a spin for Nico Hulkenberg.
“Not many laps today. I think like five push laps in total. So not the Friday I’d want especially from an FP2 perspective and trying to make up laps on everyone and I just felt like I lost even more,” said Norris who retired from last weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix on Lap 3.
“For just one session today I was happy, obviously the car was quite quick. Definitely a bit to find, it’s going to be very close tomorrow in Qualifying so two-tenths is easily five/six positions come tomorrow afternoon.”
But while Norris demonstrated the MCL60’s inherently strong one-lap performance, he is yet to gain an understanding of what’s in store when it comes to long-running ahead of Sunday’s season finale.
“We’re in a good position definitely, we’re more comfortable and confident than we were in Vegas and a few other places, but not many high fuel long run laps that I managed to get today, I think like zero. A little bit behind from a long-run perspective so maybe I can make up for that tomorrow.”
On the other side of the McLaren garage, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend marks a return to a familiar environment for Oscar Piastri who, since the Italian Grand Prix in September, has combated a string of new circuits for the Aussie.
“It was nice to be back somewhere I have driven before. Saying that, it wasn’t the smoothest day for everyone,” the rookie commented.
“FP2 was pretty disrupted so definitely a few things to work on. The car looked really competitive, I’m confident in what I’m able to do, just need to tidy up a couple of mistakes and we will be good.
“A few things to tweak here and there, a few things to change in my driving but all in all, it’s in a good place.”
McLaren holds just an 11-point advantage over Aston Martin heading into the final round but despite the threat, Piastri has high hopes for the remainder of the Abu Dhabi weekend.
“I think Q3 is definitely the minimum. I think Lando showed the pace of the car now. I’m pretty confident I can be there as well if I get it all together. Maybe we didn’t fully see what Red Bull’s pace was like today, but I think we are fighting well and truly at the front.”
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