Lando Norris wants to make his McLaren more comfortable to drive on the limit consistently during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend despite being fastest in FP2.
Friday’s practice sessions saw Ferrari on top in FP1 before Norris set the pace in the second session, leading Max Verstappen by nearly a quarter of a second. Although enjoying a solid advantage in terms of one-lap pace, Norris says the car is still a little on the unpredictable side and he wants to find a setup that will give him a little more consistency when it comes to longer runs.
“I feel like we have the speed in the car,” Norris said. “It’s just being able to deliver it when you need to. You can have a fast car that’s easy to drive — that’s an ideal world. You obviously have more often than not, a fast car which is a bit more on the edge and a little bit more difficult.
“It’s about kind of just playing around with the balance of where you want to sit. A lot that is just down to driver preference and so forth. It felt good today, but definitely a little bit more from a comfort side that I would like just so I can deliver a little bit more than just one lap a day.”
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Temperatures at the Hungaroring have been in the 90s F throughout the weekend so far and look set to remain at similar highs on Saturday and Sunday, but Norris believes it will be more of a mental rather than physical challenge come race day.
“Sunday is going to be the challenge for all of us. Staying hydrated and drinking my drinks, it’s important,” he said. “It’s mentally draining, mentally tough.
“It doesn’t feel the most physical — normally it feels quite physical around here, but it doesn’t feel it for whatever reason this weekend. Just sweating and losing energy, and not making mistakes, that’s going to be the bigger challenge for us.”
Verstappen was running an upgraded Red Bull on Friday and although there was a gap to Norris, he says the early signs are positive from his perspective.
“I think we have had a good day with the upgrades that we have brought to this race,” Verstappen said. “Of course, there is still a lot to do to make sure we optimize the car, but I think it was a solid start to the weekend. It is important to try to look into all the details and work to make sure we have the best setup possible for the car for qualifying.
“Of course, FP2 was a bit interrupted with the red flag (for Charles Leclerc’s crash), so we didn’t manage to get the full long runs in that we wanted, but it was the same for everyone. We’ll look into things and work from there. All in all, it was a good start to the weekend.”