McLaren is in high spirits as they topped both practice sessions on Friday with Lando Norris, in front of their home crowd.
The Brit seems to have bounced back better than ever after that disappointing incident and retirement in the Austrian Grand Prix. He managed to end Free Practice 2 on top of the board with a 1:26.549.
Fresh out of the car, Norris commented that it was a ‘good start to the weekend’. He also applauded the team for improving the car’s set-up as the day went on.
The 24-year-old is wary of the margins between them and their main competitors, stating that even Mercedes could be as quick as them.
On the mediums in FP2, George Russell was the fastest car. However, Mercedes dropped to P6 and P10 on softs.
“A good start to the weekend. It wasn’t like the cleanest, or it was cleanest, but didn’t feel that comfortable this morning.
“But through the sessions, we made some tweaks and I got in a much nicer window, which is important around here, because it’s quite on the nose and quite sketchy and pretty high-speed. Yeah, tricky but I’m happy. I think we made some good progress.
“I think we’re pretty tight and even with probably Mercedes, they seem probably just as quick as us. They just didn’t turn up the engine and do as much in the final runs. I think we’re in a good place, but we definitely have a little bit more to find.”
With rain being a potential factor this weekend, Norris doesn’t seem to be fazed by the uncertain weather conditions.
However, Norris admitted he would prefer it to be dry considering how quick the MCL38 is in those conditions.
“I always enjoy both conditions. I would prefer if it was one or the other. Honestly on a home race, you would prefer if it was just dry because we seem like we’re in a good place and I wouldn’t want to go too far away from that.
“But it’s Silverstone and it’s England. I’m kind of ready for everything, but my preference would probably be to stay dry.”
Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri also had quite a solid day, ending FP2 second on the board, 0.331s behind Norris.
He commented that he also had a good Friday as well, only needing to modify a few things to the set-up, and the driver from Melbourne is positive that they can be able to hold on to this competitiveness for the rest of the weekend.
“It’s interesting to see what other people were doing. If we can maintain that gap through the rest of the weekend that would be good – I’m not sure we will!
“I think we had a good session, good day. The car felt pretty good, just a few things to tidy up on my side, I would say. All in all, a decent Friday.”
The Australian also stated that the rain could be a major factor in the weekend. He added that what the pace looked like in the dry practice may not represent the order in the rain.
“Yeah, I think it’ll have a big influence. Again, the pace today in dry conditions might not necessarily be that important for the rest of the weekend.”
When asked how important it is for the teams to make the right strategy calls at the right time given the uncertain weather conditions, he commented on it being tough for everyone, exclaiming that it will be an ‘exciting weekend for everybody’.
“We’ll see, I think it’s going to be a tough one for all the teams, trying to stay on top of the weather. Trying to stay on top of British weather is hard in normal times, let alone on a race weekend! I think it will be an exciting weekend for everybody.”
