Lando Norris has insisted that McLaren’s upgrades at the United States Grand Prix have made its Formula 1 car “quicker” despite struggling to third in the Sprint Race.
Norris bemoaned a “shocking” SQ3 lap in Sprint Qualifying as he clocked the fourth quickest time, putting him three spots behind championship rival Max Verstappen.
However, the Briton passed Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and George Russell’s Mercedes on the opening lap to be running in Verstappen’s wake during the nascent stages.
“Yeah, it was a good start, a good Turn 1, which was nice to have, and immediately behind Max, and it was pretty straightforward from that point onwards,” he said.
“George was pushing a lot in the beginning of the race, clearly a bit too much, and paid the price. For me it was a bit like, I didn’t think I would ever be able to get Max.
“We’ve been struggling a bit all weekend, so my chances of getting Max were tough, but I did the best I could to manage my tyres and things like that.”
McLaren on the back foot at COTA
Norris managed to cling onto second position until the final lap when a lock-up into Turn 1 sent him wide, allowing Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to demote him down to third.
“But at the end of the race, the Ferraris were at another level comparing to us, so I did my best to try and hold on,” he continued.
“But there was pretty much zero chance I would ever hold on to taking place today.
“So, happy, I mean, from fourth, happy we moved up, we put up a good fight, but we just don’t have the pace this weekend.
“Maybe some changes to make into qualifying and for the race tomorrow.
“But we’re not on the same level as, I think maybe similar to Max, but the Ferraris were quite a chunk behind.”
McLaren updates not to blame
McLaren‘s troubles to match its rivals at the Circuit of the Americas marks a stark contrast to the previous round in Singapore when Norris won with a 21-second gap.
Norris, though, has dismissed the notion that the Woking-based squad’s choice to introduce developments to the MCL38 on a Sprint weekend is behind its regression.
“No, I’m very happy we brought updates here,” he responded when asked whether McLaren should have waited until Mexico next week to sample its new parts.
“Otherwise, I’d be even further down the grid. So, no, the team did a good job to get the bits here.
“We’ve had some great races lately, like Singapore and other places, but everyone thought we were easily and way far ahead of everyone, and clearly we’re not.
“Even if you go back to Baku and things, both Red Bull and Ferrari were quicker than us.
“I think we’re close, but even when I look at the data comparing to yesterday, we’re a long way off of what Ferrari could achieve, what Mercedes could achieve.
“So, yeah, I think it’s going to be tough. It’s an opportunity for us to improve into qualifying, but these upgrades have made us go quicker. So, yeah, we’d be even further down without them.”
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