Lando Norris predicted the person who will start the race around the Albert Park Circuit from pole based on the first two practice sessions ahead of the 2024 Australian Grand Prix.
McLaren brought an upgrade to Australia this week, but its team principal, Andrea Stella, tempered all the expectations, saying this upgrade is minimal and that we are talking about hundredths of a second changes.
Nevertheless, Lando Norris was standing in P1 after the first practice session. In FP2, however, the Papaya driver seemed to lack some pace compared to the leader, Charles Leclerc.
Norris finished the second practice session in P9, 0.878 seconds behind the Monegasque driver in Ferrari. Asked if McLaren could battle with Ferrari during the third round of the F1 calendar, Norris replied:
No, no. The Ferrari's on pole tomorrow, I think. Leclerc's on pole tomorrow. Or Carlos. A bit more the Astons and Mercedes."
"It's been clear since day one that Red Bull and Ferrari are way too fast for us, so no point looking at them. But Mercedes and Aston, I think, are a better target."
Norris's teammate, Oscar Piastri, managed to beat both Aston Martin and Mercedes drivers during the most recent race in Jeddah, so it is definitely an achievable target for McLaren. The 24-year-old continued:
"They were making some mistakes, but I made my fair share of mistakes today. But George [Russell] was quicker than us today, so theirs is still a good car."
Some teams have one clear weakness, which makes them slower. For Mercedes, for example, it was high-speed corners during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
While Stella suggested that low-speed corners seemed to be McLaren's main weakness, Norris believes his car is pretty much equally slower in every section of the circuit.
"There’s no place that we’re consistently stronger than anyone or anything like that, I think we lose just a little bit in every sector compared to the Ferraris, maybe a little bit more in the tight and twisty corners like the last sector. It’s difficult."
"We're just not as quick everywhere basically, so it's not a single place. We're just trying to improve the balance and everything, it will make everything get a little bit better."
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