Lando Norris hails quick McLaren fix to "shocking" car in Silverstone sprint qualifying
Lando Norris has revealed the extent of the damage he suffered during sprint qualifying at the British Grand Prix
Lando Norris has praised his McLaren Formula 1 team after the mechanics were able to address brake duct damage incurred early in Silverstone sprint qualifying and which left him with a “pretty shocking” car for the first two sessions.
McLaren has new front brake ducts as part of an upgrade package for this weekend, and Norris suffered an issue with one in SQ1 that cost him downforce.
Having finished P10 in that session, he then scraped out of SQ2 in the same position, as there was no time for repairs.
However, the team was ready to address the problem in the gap before SQ3 by fitting a replacement new spec duct. He rewarded the team with P6,
Norris conceded that he was hampered more than he thought before the final session and felt that had prevented him from fully exploiting the car when it was repaired.
“It was [hampering me], actually, quite a lot more than I thought," said Norris. "It was only for the final run that we managed to fix it. The guys did a good job fixing it for the final run. The car was just completely different and way better again.
“It felt pretty shocking for most of it, and it was just lucky that we managed to fix it, because it felt like a completely different car.
“But by the time that I got the feeling for the final lap, I felt like I could have just pushed way more. It’s just unfortunate today, but I think also the pace was still there or thereabouts.”
Norris doubts that he can fight with Ferrari and Mercedes in Saturday’s sprint.
“We’ll try," he said. "But that the cars that are around us… I think maybe the Red Bull we can potentially compete against, but the Mercedes of George is clearly just a lot quicker. To fight a much quicker car like that is going to be difficult.
“I felt happier at the end. I just need to understand a few things and see what we can improve into tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, his team-mate Oscar Piastri had to settle for P7, having been P4 and P5 in the earlier sessions.
“I think after practice we looked pretty slow, so it's about where we thought we'd be,” said the Australian. " I think, to be honest, probably closer to that next pack behind Kimi and Lewis.
“I felt like I've really been on it today, and it's not had the pace, so bit of a shame. But we'll try again tomorrow.”
In this article
Adam Cooper attended his first F1 race at Brands Hatch as a 10-year-old fan in 1976. He became a freelance journalist for Autosport magazine in 1985 while still at university, initially covering everything from club racing to the FIA World Sportscar Championship.
