Lando Norris feels he’s “on the right track” after taking his McLaren to the top of the timesheet in FP2 at the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Norris came away from last weekend’s Bahrain GP wrought with pessimism and his usual self-critical disquisition
He admitted to being “clueless” after qualifying sixth in Sakhir and rued his ill-feeling with the McLaren MCL39 in crunch-time qualifying moments after rising to third in the race.
Now, at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, a fast, treacherous street venue demanding a driver to be at one with the car underneath them, Norris has started to turn a corner, edging out team-mate Oscar Piastri (winner last time out) by over a tenth in FP2.
“Pretty decent first day, it always feels chaotic around here because it’s so fast,” Norris reflected post-session.
“A lot of walls, a lot of near misses. But yeah, today has really been a day of trying to work on my driving, working on myself rather than, probably, trying to work on the car.
“I’ve been getting more confident, so I think a good start to the weekend.
“Productive, gaining confidence, gaining feelings.
“So from what I wanted to achieve today, I think I’m on the right track.”
McLaren ‘not comfortable’ with leading margin in Jeddah
Norris’ benchmark effort in FP2 on Friday was 0.163s faster than Piastri, who held a 0.117s advantage over the rest of the field, led by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Given the tight margins in F1, and how nothing but perfection will land a driver where the car warrants on the grid, Norris would rather the gap McLaren has over the chasing pack to be a touch larger.
“The others are not far behind,” Norris continued.
“I probably was hoping for a bigger gap than what we had today.
“I mean, we know we’re fast, but certainly not comfortable, not as comfortable as we would like.”
Piastri, meanwhile, had a few brushes with the walls as he attempted a quali-sim on Friday, but was still feeling positive after his day’s running.
“It was a decent day, I think the pace has been good and it felt reasonably comfortable,” the Australian said.
“There’s been a few corners that I need to try and do a little bit of a better job at tomorrow but all-in-all it felt like a good day.
“ I think the pace has been good, still some things to iron out it’s not been perfect but still feeling good.”
Piastri has two wins and two pole positions to Norris’ single reward in either category, but it’s the latter who leads his younger team-mate by three points in the Drivers’ standings.
READ MORE – Lando Norris leads McLaren 1-2 in Friday night Saudi Arabian GP practice
