Lack of McLaren pace a "shock" - Norris

Lando Norris has confessed to being in "shock" after a difficult start to the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend which he feels has highlighted what he has described as "a few more of McLaren's weaknesses".

McLaren registered a double-points finish at the circuit last year, but Norris has suggested a repeat may be difficult on Sunday after what the team discovered during the only dry practice session in the morning.

Norris was only ninth quickest in FP1, finishing over 1.5secs adrift of Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton whose best time was set on the hard-compound tyre compared to his fellow Briton who was on the soft.

"It was nice to be back in the car in the first place, [but it] wasn't so nice to be driving it," said Norris. "It was quite tricky.

"I think we're in a very different situation to Austria, in terms of car balance and what we're suffering with. It's a kind of shock I would say."

With mixed conditions forecast for the remainder of the weekend, Norris was unsure as to what might be possible come race day, adding: "We've got a bit of homework to do before tomorrow."

As for an explanation as to the lack of pace, Norris added: "There are a few things. Track conditions - there are just so many things in Formula 1 that can affect different things.

"We weren't expecting it to be that different. We knew it would be different, but I think we just highlighted a few more of our weaknesses, which we were kind of expecting, but not expecting them to be as visible as they were."

Before you go...

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Unhappy Verstappen believes Red Bull has "a lot of work to do to match Mercedes"

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