Lando Norris couldn't hide his frustration after the practice sessions for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The McLaren driver described his car's pace deficit as "a little knife in the heart".
McLaren arrived in Baku with a host of upgrades to the MCL40 package, hoping to put the disappointment of Spain behind them where Norris lost a likely win due to a Virtual Safety Car. However, the characteristics of the Baku street circuit proved unfriendly to their car. Norris averaged 1.5 seconds slower than George Russell's fastest time in FP1 and FP2.
The problems didn't stop there. In FP1, the team found concerns over the floorboard on both cars. A makeshift solution using cable ties was deployed to allow Norris and his teammate to continue running in FP2. Norris eventually ended the day sixth fastest.
After the session, Norris was asked to sum up his day. He admitted frankly, "We're miles off. We're in the position we expected to be in, but at 1.5 seconds off the pace. It's pretty pants." He added that the car didn't feel bad, but seeing the gap was like "a little knife in the heart".
When asked what the team could do to close the gap to Mercedes before FP3 and qualifying, Norris confessed he had no idea. "We'll see what work we can do. I don't really care how confident I am in the car, I just care about the pace, and we're not very fast."
Norris also emphasised that he just wants a quick car. "I don't care. I drive whatever car I get given, I just want it to be quick, and it's not very quick at the minute. We'll see what we can change for tomorrow."
With such performance, McLaren must work hard to find a solution before qualifying. The battle in Baku is still long, but without significant improvement, Norris's hopes for a strong result could fade.
Baca Juga
Lewis Hamilton hanya finis kelima di FP2 GP Azerbaijan, terpaut 1,3 detik dari Mercedes. Ia tetap optimistis Ferrari bisa bangkit dengan fokus pada pengelolaan ban.
Lando Norris sebut defisit McLaren di Baku bak pisau di hati. Masalah teknis dan kurangnya pace bikin tim harus kerja ekstra sebelum kualifikasi.
F1 2026: Imola bersiap jadi plan B, sementara Qatar dan Abu Dhabi tetap plan A. Ketidakpastian akhir musim meningkat, F1 tanggung risiko finansial.
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