Lando Norris on back foot after McLaren practice troubles

Lando Norris has conceded he is on the back foot for the Canadian Grand Prix weekend after missing out on running during first practice.

His McLaren team were forced to fix some minor troubles on Norris' MCL36 in the first session, costing valuable time as teams scrambled to collect data in case of a weather system hitting the track in the second hour of running.

Fortunately for Norris, the rain never came, allowing him to complete a full programme in second practice, where he eventually finished eighth fastest, eight-tenths down on session-topper Max Verstappen.

It is F1's first visit to Montréal since 2019 having been unable to travel due to Covid-19 and asked how his first day back at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve had fared, Norris said: "It is tough.

"It is not an easy track with the bumps, with the poor grip as well, being a street circuit that I guess never gets used until a Formula 1 race.

"Tough, but I think we found some smaller things with the car, we made some good improvements but we also... pace-wise we are not looking amazing, Aston [Martin] were a long way ahead of us.

"The last few weeks they have definitely taken a step and look much more competitive now.

"So in the middle, lost a bit of running in FP1, so a little bit on the back foot with the long-run stuff and having to play catch up but not in a bad place."

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