McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella and Lando Norris were in agreement after Saturday’s qualifying session that Max Verstappen remains the favourite for victory in the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, despite incurring a 10-place grid penalty.
Verstappen incurred the 10-place demotion as a consequence of exceeding his power unit allocation for the season, but an impressive pole lap in qualifying saw him clear the field by six-tenths of a second in wet conditions.
The Dutchman also set the pace in the dry on Friday morning before Norris led a McLaren one-two in second practice.
Norris and Oscar Piastri will line up fourth and fifth on Sunday’s grid, but Stella still picks Verstappen as a genuine contender from 11th.
“Max, [is] definitely a threat,” Stella claimed after qualifying.
“I think he’s been exceptionally fast in dry conditions. He was very fast today in wet conditions.
“I think we knew that in this kind of track, still Red Bull was likely to have an edge on us.
“I think this was proven today in wet, and to some extent even yesterday in dry conditions.
“He remains the favourite for the victory tomorrow, even if he starts outside the first 10 positions on the grid.
“We have to look at ourselves. We have to maximise the fact that we were competitive as well.
“We have a tyre strategy that we are happy with. We have to keep an eye on the weather, explore the strengths of the car, and hopefully gain a time advantage at the start.
“That means that even if Max made it through the field, we will be far enough ahead.”
Norris thinks Verstappen’s “clearly been quickest all weekend.
“Even yesterday in FP2, [Red Bull] just didn’t turn up the engine like we had. Considering we were only two-tenths ahead, [Vertsappen] had a lot more in the bag, basically.
“Even after a lot of great races in the past few weeks, I think Red Bull has always been there and thereabouts.”
Norris reckons that some look to “count Red Bull out at times,” before claiming the Dutchman had the measure of McLaren last time out at the Hungaroring.
“He was in pretty much the same race pace, just made more mistakes than what we did, as simple as that,” Norris said.
“He’s going to be a threat tomorrow. 100% he’s going to be coming through quickly. I’m sure he’ll be a threat for us as well.”
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