McLaren’s Lando Norris believes that he is in for a “tough weekend” at the Imola GP after a dominating Miami Grand Prix
After a strong start for the McLaren Team, especially after an astonishing 1-2 finish for Papaya at the Miami GP with a 37-second gap.
Lando Norris expects to have a tough weekend against the other teams in round 7 of the F1 season, even after scoring three podiums at the famous Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola.
On Thursday’s media day ahead of the Imola GP, Norris said: “I think Miami just went very, very well. I think our pace was probably a little bit of a surprise, just how strong we were on Sunday, but a nice surprise.
He continued: “I expect it to probably return a little bit more back to how it’s been, which is us having a small advantage but still being tight with our main competition. We’re still expecting a tough weekend, it’s just a good surprise if things go better than that.”
McLaren’s Standing
McLaren stands at an impressive 105-point advantage over the Mercedes AMG Petronas team in the constructors’ standings.
The Briton has proved himself at the Miami GP Sprint race, claiming first in the race, but was unable to win in Miami after a sweeping victory by teammate Oscar Piastri for his fourth P1 result.
Norris has praised this teamwork and is eager to learn and adapt from each weekend, as he said: “It’s a good thing. It’s obviously not a dream scenario, but Oscar is doing a very good job, and I can’t fault him for that. But that’s his thing, and I’ve got to focus on myself and keep focusing on what I can do better.”
He added: “I know there are things I’m working on to improve and to raise my level and to make sure I win some more races, so it’s a good thing. We’re learning from each other every weekend, it’s what makes us really strong.
“I push Oscar a lot, Oscar pushes me a lot, and we end up being a very strong team. For me, it’s a good thing. There is pros and cons, I guess, but I’m happy about it.”
Lando Norris hasn’t won a Grand Prix since Australia, and is 16 points behind his papaya teammate Piastri, but is ahead 16 points of current F1 World Champion Max Verstappen.
Schumacher’s comments
This comes after Ralf Schumacher’s comments about the Briton for winning the F1 Drivers’ Championship due to his small mistakes, as he said: “The reality is he simply isn’t capable of it; otherwise, he would perform better. He has been in this environment long enough. There are no justifications for this kind of behaviour,”
Schumacher continued on about his weak preparation forvertaking manoeuvres and added: “There are drivers who have a keen eye for it; for example, Max. The same goes for Piastri and Bearman, who are great examples of preparing someone for an overtaking manoeuvre. Lando simply lacks that skill, and he will not learn it.”
