F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Norris attentive to 'pretty big gap' to Alpine in FP2

Lando Norris admitted that McLaren had endured one of its toughest FP2s on Friday in Hungary, with the Briton noting his team's relative performance to several of its midfield rivals and especially Alpine.

Contrary to McLaren, the French outfit put both its drivers among the top-ten in yesterday's second practice session, with Esteban Ocon clocking in a an impressive fourth at the end of FP2.

Norris concluded his day P9, but almost half a second adrift of Ocon, while teammate Daniel Ricciardo was a lowly P13, results that clearly indicated that McLaren had work to do to catch up with its midfield rivals.

"I reckon it’s been one of our tougher FP2s," Norris said. "We’re not amazing normally in FP2 but we never struggle quite as much as this, the gap to Alpine was pretty big.

"So I think getting into Q3 is the main one, particularly as it’s a very qualifying-dominated track. Tomorrow’s the big day, so we’ll put all of our eggs into it right now.

"Alpine were very fast today, AlphaTauri were very fast today. Ferrari was maybe a little bit slower than we were expecting, I thought they’d be very fast here, so I don’t know."

Teams and drivers kicked off their Hungarian Grand Prix weekend amid scorching temperatures in Budapest and extreme conditions that impacted in various ways everyone's performance.

"Even we were expecting to be a bit better," added Norris. "The conditions are very different to what they were last year, it was much colder last year, the tarmac was still a bit fresher and newer.

"It changes, it’s never the same, and we’ll sit down tonight and try to understand why and try to make some improvements because of that.

"It’s not like we’re a long way off the pace. We have some things to work on, some things to focus on, and we’ll try again tomorrow."

McLaren engineer Andrea Stella said that the team's efforts would be geared towards ensuring that Norris and Ricciardo have the best chance of making it into Q3 in qualifying as grid position is preponderant at the Hungaroring.

"The midfield is very tight, and a few milliseconds will make all the difference," said Stella.

"So, we have some work to do this evening and tomorrow to prepare for qualifying and ensure we have a good race on Sunday, starting from as high up on the grid as possible.

"We also know the weather is unsettled, so we’ll be preparing for multiple scenarios for the rest of the weekend."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.

Recent Posts

Las Vegas GP: Russell keeps Mercedes on top in final practice

George Russell upheld Mercedes’ dominant Las Vegas form in FP3 on Friday, the Briton topping…

1 hour ago

2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix Free Practice 3 - Results

Full results from Free Practice 3 for the Las Vegas Grand Prix in the United…

1 hour ago

Marko: ‘No chance at all’ for Red Bull in Las Vegas

Helmut Marko believes that Red Bull and Max Verstappen are unlikely to challenge for victory…

12 hours ago

GM revives bid to join F1 with accelerated talks for 2026 entry

Automotive giant General Motors is reportedly back in the game as a potential entrant in…

14 hours ago

Las Vegas GP: Thursday's action in pictures

The opening day of running at the Las Vegas GP was a smooth but chilly…

15 hours ago

Williams' headaches persist into Vegas practice

Williams is continuing to fight uphill battles this weekend in Las Vegas as a knock-on…

16 hours ago