F1 News: McLaren Happy With FP2 Despite Lando Norris's P20
Despite Lando Norris finishing P20 in FP2 due to challenges in executing a clean lap with the C3 soft tire, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella expressed satisfaction with a productive session since his timing was not indicative of the car's true performance.
Key Takeaways:
- McLaren expressed satisfaction with the overall productive FP2 session despite Lando Norris finishing P20 due to challenges with his sole lap on the C3 soft tire.
- Norris, who secured P2 in FP1, faced difficulties in executing a clean lap in FP2, with McLaren CEO Zak Brown pointing out a "big error" in the final sector.
- McLaren clarified that the P20 resulted from Norris's sole timed lap with the soft C3 tire, emphasizing that it did not accurately reflect the car's performance. The team focused on setup and tire understanding, aiming to maximize their package for the rest of the weekend. Norris acknowledged room for improvement but highlighted progress in car balance and comfort.
Fortunately for Norris, he secured a P2 in the opening practice, but FP2 was a different story altogether, with McLaren CEO Zak Brown calling out a "big error" in the final sector of his lap.
Setting the record straight, Stella clarified that Norris secured P20 on his sole timed lap with the soft C3 tire, emphasizing that it was an otherwise "productive day" for the Papaya team. He told the media:
“Overall, a productive first day of practice.
“We had no major issues and we got through our test programme. Even though we’ve had three days of testing, there is always a lot to finalise when it comes to the race weekend, and today we worked on setup. It was also important to develop our understanding of the tyres in conditions that were colder in comparison to the test.
“Oscar [Piastri] had a good session both on new tyres and long runs, while Lando couldn’t complete his single timed lap on the soft, which meant his position in the classification was not very meaningful.
“But we’re happy with the information we’ve acquired, and we seem to be in a decent position to score points. We’ll try to maximise our package tomorrow and put ourselves in the best position for the rest of the weekend.”
Norris added that his time on the sheets was not representative of the actual picture. He revealed that he felt more comfortable in the car with improved balance, though there was more scope for improvement. He said:
“It’s been a reasonable day.
“I’m happy with how Thursday went overall. We made some progress with the car, there are still plenty of things to improve on, but we improved the balance and I got more comfortable, which is a good thing.
“I didn’t do a great job in putting a lap together, so it wasn’t a very representative day on the timesheets, but overall, a good first day and a good start to the weekend.”