Norris labels McLaren long-run pace ‘shocking’ in chilly Vegas

Lando Norris didn’t hold back in his assessment of McLaren’s performance on the opening day of practice at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, describing his car’s long-run pace as “shocking”.

Despite a promising second practice session where he finished a close second to Lewis Hamilton.

But the chilly conditions and the slick, low-grip surface of the Las Vegas Strip Circuit painted a different picture when it came to his McLaren’s race pace.

Adding to the Briton's woes was also a persistent issue of front tyre graining, a critical factor in the car’s poor performance over longer stints.

“It's just very difficult, super low grip,” he said. “I feel like I could drive a road car quicker than we drive at the minute…”

“I think the low-fuel stuff has been okay,” he explained. “The high-fuel, that was shocking. So, yeah, plenty of things to look into.”

• 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix Free Practice 2 - Results

Norris acknowledged that he has to contend with his own struggles when it comes to dealing with front graining” and “stuff like that”.

“This kind of combinations of things, and when we struggle with the front graining and stuff like that, I'm just not very good at it,” he said. “So it's always a bit of a struggle for me.

“But we’ve a good amount of time to work on it. So yeah, two halves really. Good low-fuel and difficult high-fuel.”

The McLaren driver’s difficulties are particularly concerning as he enters the weekend needing a strong result to keep his slim championship hopes alive.

With just three races left in the season, McLaren must balance their impressive one-lap speed with improving their long-run performance to secure a competitive position in Sunday’s race.

Team-mate Oscar Piastri also weighed in on McLaren’s performance, suggesting that rapid track evolution during Thursday practice made it difficult to gauge true competitiveness.

“Every lap we do, the track's getting better and better,” said the Australian. “But we knew what to expect this time, at least.

“It's been an interesting day. I think the pace seems reasonable, just a bit of tidying up. And if you don't get the lap here, then you quickly lose a lot of time with the track evolving so much.”

Mercedes appeared to have a slight edge over the field on Thursday, with Ferrari also showing strong form. Despite this, Piastri believes McLaren remains in the fight.

"Mercedes have looked very quick today," Piastri noted. "Very, very quick. Ferrari's been pretty strong as well. But I think we're definitely in the mix."

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