Lando Norris, British driver of the McLaren Formula 1 team, praised the progress of his team during a challenging weekend at the Canadian Grand Prix. Despite uncertain weather conditions and a slow performance in the second practice session, Norris managed to qualify in third place. The McLaren MCL38 car performed exceptionally well in the cooler and drier conditions, securing the second row with Norris in third place and Oscar Piastri in fourth. Although Norris narrowly missed out on pole position by 0.021 seconds, he expressed satisfaction with his lap time in Q3. He acknowledged the difficulty of the track and challenging conditions, but still found it rewarding to achieve a third place, even being just two hundredths of a second away from pole.
In tabloid format, Norris discussed the challenging track conditions at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, which were affected by unpredictable weather. When asked about the difficulty of adjusting the car to the track throughout the weekend, Norris responded that it was very challenging due to the constantly changing conditions. He mentioned that they did not have many practice laps, which made it even harder to find consistency. The track conditions involved the tires going through different phases, such as warming up, losing grip, wearing out, and the sun appearing. Norris acknowledged that it was difficult to find a balance between good drivability and good cornering, as well as a car that performed well aerodynamically. Despite the challenges, Norris found it fun and exciting to compete in such a tight race, with only two tenths of a second separating first from seventh or eighth place.
Norris expressed optimism about McLaren’s race pace and their ability to compete with the cars ahead. He believed they were in the mix and had shown good performance in recent races. However, he acknowledged that George Russell and Mercedes had been particularly fast throughout the weekend, with Russell being the favorite. Norris recognized that on paper, they seemed more comfortable and consistently at the top of the timing sheets, while McLaren had progressed throughout the weekend. However, Norris had confidence in McLaren’s performance on Sundays, as they had performed well in previous races. He was looking forward to seeing what they could achieve in the race.
