Lando Norris finished ninth in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and acknowledged after the race that McLaren’s car lacks speed on the straights and that Miami is likely to be the same.
Q: From the outside it looked like the race wasn’t going well for you, you were behind Nico Hulkenberg for a long time, but then you managed to get ahead of him and somehow it got more fun. What do you think?
Lando Norris: I will say the race was very long. After the first twenty laps I wanted it to be over as soon as possible. We were just unlucky as the safety car came out one lap after we pitted.
In reality we didn’t lose position, but let two cars go ahead – Hulkenberg’s Haas and Esteban Okon’s Alpine, which have not yet pitted. I don’t think it affected the end result too much, but if I came back to the track and got ahead of them then the track would be free for me, because the rest had time to go through.
Talking about the pace, it looks like we were kind of in our category today, but the important thing is that we managed to get a few points. This is the maximum that could be expected, and this should be pleased.
Q: What are your expectations for the upcoming Miami Grand Prix? How will the McLaren car cope with this circuit, as it is also considered an urban circuit, but it is completely different from Baku?
Lando Norris: We won’t have it easy in Miami. We understand that the MCL60 lacks speed on the straights, because this makes overtaking an almost impossible task for us. Today it was. At the same time, it cannot be said that we are doing well with downforce, so we cannot overtake our rivals in corners either. In general, we go through corners like them, but on straights we fall behind.
We have a hard time on days like today. It will probably be the same in Miami. But this is still a fairly new circuit, and there we will try out some technical innovations – maybe we can add some. I think they will work better there than here in Baku.
In general, we are now faced with many tasks that require attention. We will analyze the information collected today, draw conclusions based on it and prepare for next weekend.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
