Norris: The main task is to achieve optimal settings

The McLaren drivers were generally pleased with the performance of the car, which featured a number of technical innovations this weekend, while for Lando Norris it was more important to work on the race settings during practice. The qualification is less of a concern to him, as he will still be fined for replacing the power plant.

Daniel Riccardo (9th): “We expected more rain and were prepared to face a wet track on Friday, although the weather should be better for the rest of the weekend. But since we still managed to work on dry surfaces today, the results can be considered more or less representative.

The track condition improved noticeably, although in the second session there were still wet sections on the road – this was the case in several corners of the second sector – and it was not easy to drive. For the rest of the weekend the forecasts are better, although I say this with caution, because in Spa you can expect some weather surprises. But you can still expect that the weather will be dry, the temperature of the asphalt will be higher, so that the rubber heats up more easily.

The car left a good impression, although I had some problems in some parts of the track, but overall we are more or less satisfied. In the evening we will make some changes to the settings, because they are not ideal yet, but we have an idea in which direction to go.

It’s always nice to get behind the wheel after a summer holiday, although it is understandable that everyone wants it to last a little longer at the end of a holiday. But as soon as you go back to work, immerse yourself in this atmosphere, you immediately feel that it is not bad here either!

Lando Norris (3rd): “The track conditions were difficult, especially towards the end of both sessions when it started to rain. Although it was small, it still affected the situation as the track became very slippery.

Overall, it wasn’t easy, especially as when it started to rain, we were trying to work on long sets of circles at that point in both sessions, and in terms of preparation for Sunday I first have to set the race pace of the car.

But in general the day is more or less normal – it’s nice to go back to work after a break. There were some technical innovations to the car this weekend and I think we’ve managed to understand how they work, as well as get an idea of ​​how the car behaves when it’s set to a lower level of down force.

Since we will be fined this weekend for replacing the power plant, we are trying to focus more on preparing for the race than qualifying. The main task is to achieve optimal settings, which will come in handy on Sunday, but in general we can say that the day went well.