McLaren‘s Lando Norris said Ferrari must have been “shocked” by its pace deficit in the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.
Ferrari posed a genuine threat to McLaren throughout practice at the Albert Park Circuit with Charles Leclerc even topping FP2.
However, come the top-10 shootout in qualifying, any competitiveness Ferrari had towards McLaren evaporated as Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were resigned to the fourth row, seven-tenths adrift of the papaya front row lockout.
In the race, Ferrari’s fortunes didn’t improve and a lack of outright pace and strategy miscues saw the Scuderia duo finish eighth and 10th respectively.
Norris is adamant that McLaren won’t enjoy a similar advantage over Ferrari this weekend in China, expecting the Italian squad to have fared far better in Melbourne.
“The gap in qualifying surprised us a bit,” Norris said on Thursday.
“Our goal was to be on pole, and we expected to be quickest, but we also expected Ferrari to be a good chunk quicker than they were.
“In the end, they were what—seven, eight tenths off? They’re not that far off by any means.
“If you looked at FP1, FP2, FP3, their pace never looked that far behind. All of Ferrari’s race runs on Friday were a lot closer to us than anyone else.
“In fact, I think Ferrari’s race pace on Friday was maybe even better than ours. So we were surprised.
“I’m sure they seemed a bit shocked as well by why they were so far off in the race.
“But it just shows how difficult it is to predict. One weekend, everything is going well, and the next, it can turn upside down.”
McLaren driver line-up an ‘advantage’ – Norris
Norris acknowledged that race by race and even stint by stint, things can change very quickly.
“You saw how quick Max was at the end of the race,” Norris exclaimed, citing the moment damp conditions played into the Red Bull driver’s hands.
“Even at the start, in the first five to seven laps, and then again in the last five to seven laps, Max was just as quick as us.”
However, when the conditions dried and managing tyre degradation became key, Norris highlighted that his and Oscar Piastri’s know-how proved to be a big advantage.
“But in that middle period of the race, when you have to understand the tyres and know how much to push, we seemed very strong,” he said.
“That’s when you need a well-balanced car in drying conditions so the tyre degradation happens evenly, rather than the front wearing out more than the rear or vice versa.
“Also, there’s a good amount that Oscar and I have learned from each other about how to drive the car efficiently.
“That’s an advantage—not every team has two teammates who can really rely on each other and push each other forward.
“It’s something we’ve worked on at McLaren, and I think it’s paying off.”
Ferrari meanwhile, although boasting a strong driver line-up, is working hard to bring Hamilton up to speed, as he seeks to tune his massive talent to his new surroundings.
After three seasons as team-mates, Norris and Piastri are singing from the same hymn sheet.
READ MORE – Lando Norris predicts slow start for Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari
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