Lando Norris says he is chasing further performance from McLaren despite setting the pace in both of Friday’s practice sessions ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as his title rivals aim to close the gap.
In FP1, Norris beat Max Verstappen by just 0.008 seconds, but Oscar Piastri missed the session and replaced Pato O’Ward to complete one more mandatory start. Norris increased his advantage to more than 0.3 seconds in the second practice session, but despite the difference, the championship leader is not entirely satisfied with the day’s work.
“Obviously, things are good for the times and everything… but the car still needs a little bit more work,” Norris said. I’m not completely satisfied and I’m not completely confident. We’re in the process of trying a few different things and figuring out some things about the car.
“So it would be nice if we could get something more out of the night, but it certainly wasn’t a bad day. It was a positive day, but there’s nothing to laugh about yet because you always know you’re much closer to qualifying.”
Norris doesn’t think the extra practice sessions compared to Piastri will give him any advantage this weekend, and his team-mates weren’t concerned about the 0.6s difference given their lack of practice in FP1.
“I think I got there pretty well on the medium (tire), but on the soft I couldn’t get the most grip out of it in the first timed lap,” Piastri said. “So I think I’m finding my feet. There’s obviously some things to try and improve for tomorrow, but after just one session I don’t think it’s too bad.”
“I think it’s a matter of small details. The car feels like it’s in a pretty decent position. Again, I couldn’t get the grip out on the first soft laps. So some small adjustments… Of course it didn’t feel perfect, but no big problems.”
Another practice session is scheduled for Saturday and Piastri, who needs to overcome a 16-point deficit to become world champion, is confident of his chances of qualifying.
“I think my chances[of chasing pole position]are pretty good. I thought the car looked fast. I just need to do a few more laps and find my feet a little bit more. That’s it, really,” he said. “Well, a few more laps tomorrow, a few more tires and hopefully we can get there.”
Verstappen was reasonably happy with the conditions both day and night at Red Bull, but knows he and the team need to make progress if they are to compete with McLaren on pace. Guido de Bortoli/Getty Images
Verstappen had to make up a 12-point gap and was second behind Norris in both sessions, but the Dutchman feels the Red Bull is handling well but just lacks pace.
“I’m pretty okay (after two sessions),” Verstappen said. “I was pretty happy with the car. It probably just needs to be a little faster. I don’t think it’s fast enough yet. But overall, I think we’re in a decent range around here.”
“It seems like a pretty big gap that we have to close, but for us we’ll just try to put our best car in front. Let’s see how much we can find overnight… Single laps and long runs (pace) need to be better.”
