McLaren F1 faced a tough Friday in Montreal, but Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri remain confident in their car’s development path.
Lando Norris admits that the first day of the Canadian Grand Prix wasn’t ideal for McLaren F1. The team is struggling, particularly behind Mercedes, but the Briton remains unfazed as the team debuts a new front wing.
“Pretty much the same, but it’s hard to say with just one circuit, especially here where it’s unique with the kerbs, the bumps, and the low grip. It’s early to say, but we’re heading in the right direction. It was a tough day, one of the hardest this season. We were off the pace and it was hard to put everything together over one lap. We’ve got work to do,” Norris admits.
“We need to get the car into a better window. The track is tricky, but everyone’s in the same boat. It’s our worst Friday so far, but we’re not far off — we just need to make the car easier to drive.”
“We’re in a good position but it’s close, Mercedes looks quick, as they were last year. We expected them to be fast and they’ve proven it, but we just need to make the car quicker and we’ll be in that group.”
Piastri sees progress as McLaren debut new front wing
Oscar Piastri also acknowledged that McLaren still had time to find before qualifying but was encouraged by the improvements made by the team between Friday’s first and second practice sessions.
“The end is clearly better than the start, but I think there’s still progress to be made.”
“The day was a bit tough, just trying to find the right window. I think we’re getting there, but there’s still work to do.”
“The competition looks tight. Tyre choice is also an interesting talking point. I’m sure we’ll see how to find more performance.”
McLaren introduced a new front wing in Montreal, and Piastri insists the update is performing as the team had hoped.
“The new parts have met our expectations, but hopefully we can get more out of them. We made a good step from FP1 to FP2, and we just need to try and do the same from FP3 to qualifying.”
“No alarm bells — I’m just trying to help get the car into a better window with the team.”
