Lando Norris Wary of McLaren Qualifying Drop-Off

Lando Norris believes McLaren showed competitive pace on the opening day of the Belgian Grand Prix but warned that a strong FP2 performance does not guarantee the same result in qualifying.

Norris ended Friday in second place and was the only driver to finish within two tenths of FP2 leader Kimi Antonelli. His MCL40 was also fitted with a new rear-wing endplate for the sessions at Spa-Francorchamps.

Although his one-lap pace appeared promising, Norris recalled several previous weekends when McLaren looked competitive in second practice before losing ground to its rivals during qualifying.

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“In terms of our pace at the end, we seemed good on one lap. We seemed reasonable, but there have been quite a few times this season where we were good in FP2 and then off the pace come qualifying,” Norris said.

McLaren’s FP1 programme was not completely smooth because several problems delayed Norris’s departure from the garage. That restricted the number of laps he could complete before the team made changes for second practice.

A red flag late in FP2 also reduced Norris’s opportunity to collect high-fuel data. Those runs are important for assessing car balance, tyre management and long-run performance ahead of the race.

“FP1 wasn’t the cleanest. We had a few problems and issues which didn’t allow us to get out of the garage as quickly as we wanted. It would have been nice to get a few more high-fuel laps before the red flag,” he added.

Norris believes McLaren improved the car between the two sessions and is now targeting another step in FP3. However, his 10-place grid penalty means he cannot start higher than 11th, making qualifying speed and overtaking performance decisive to his Belgian Grand Prix recovery prospects.