Lando Norris has once again criticized the current generation of Formula 1 cars. After the FP2 of the Belgian GP, the McLaren driver stated that the lack of battery energy compromises straight-line performance and believes his team is still behind the main competitors at Spa-Francorchamps.
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Even finishing the session in second position, about two tenths behind Kimi Antonelli, Norris adopted a cautious tone for the rest of the weekend. According to him, McLaren has not made significant changes to the car and there is no reason to expect immediate improvement.
“We have practically not changed anything this weekend, so there is no reason to expect something different. Red Bull Racing usually does not show up on Friday, so we will get to Saturday and they will be as fast as us, or even faster. Let’s wait and see,” he said.
The British driver also suggested that the Mercedes power unit used by McLaren operated closer to its maximum potential already on Friday, unlike some competitors: “I think we probably increased power with Mercedes, while others did not,” he commented.
In the British driver’s assessment, the Woking team still occupies only the fourth position among the grid’s forces: “At the moment, we are probably still the fourth fastest. But it seems that if we get everything right, we can get a little closer than we were in Silverstone. That is positive,” he said.
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Norris again expressed dissatisfaction with a characteristic of the current cars in the category, the management of electrical energy throughout the lap. According to him, the loss of performance is noticeable on practically all straights of the Belgian circuit.
“There is a lack of energy usage everywhere. On all straights, to be honest. I think the worst section is at Blanchimont. We go from almost 320 km/h to 270 km/h because we simply have no more battery. On all straights, we are limited,” he concluded.
Besides the performance challenges, Norris will face an extra obstacle at the Belgian GP. Even before the start of track activities at Spa, McLaren confirmed that the driver will lose ten positions on the starting grid for exceeding the allowed number of electronic components of the power unit this season. The team justified the decision stating that Spa offers more overtaking opportunities than the next stages, Hungary and the Dutch GP, besides allowing the use of the new component for the rest of the championship, prioritizing reliability and reducing future sporting penalties.
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