Lando Norris demanded an analysis from McLaren to understand why the team’s car showed such different performances at the Belgian GP, held last Sunday (19) in Spa-Francorchamps, and at the British GP in Silverstone. The driver admitted to being “surprised” that Mercedes was not even more dominant at the Belgian Formula 1 round.
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In Spa, Norris had one of McLaren’s best performances of the season. Even starting 13th after a 10-place grid penalty for changing an engine component outside the allowed quota, the Brit showed strong race pace, finished seventh, and set the fastest lap of the race. The performance was a contrast to Silverstone, where the Woking team struggled a lot.
For Norris, the difference is hard to explain, since the two circuits have similar characteristics: “If we went back to Silverstone now, we would still be absurdly slow and struggle with the car. So we need to understand why this track favored us much more,” he said.
The 2025 champion also commented on Mercedes and highlighted that the German team has been stronger in qualifying than in race pace throughout the season: “They have always had a slight edge in qualifying compared to the race. There were some races where they were completely dominant, but I wouldn’t say that in the last three, four, or five weeks,” he said.
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According to him, the top teams have recently closed the gap, and Spa also favored characteristics where Mercedes usually has an advantage. “Everyone seems to have gotten a bit closer, and this is also a track where a big part is about the straights and straight-line mode, which is also where they have a good advantage over us. But yes, maybe I’m a bit surprised they haven’t been much stronger.”
Despite this, Norris acknowledged that Mercedes still had a good result by winning the race, but highlighted that the closeness between the teams is a positive sign for McLaren. “They still won the race, so it’s not like they had a bad weekend, but we were definitely closer than expected, and that’s a good sign. But we don’t know why.”
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