Lando Norris on back foot after McLaren practice troubles

Norris, McLaren, Canada, 2022 — Photo: © LAT Images

Canadian Grand Prix

Lando Norris on back foot after McLaren practice troubles

Norris lost running time in the first session

Ewan Gale

Saturday 18 June 2022 13:45 Updated: 20:52

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.

Article continues under video

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."

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

F1 Practice Today: Japanese Grand Prix 2026 start times, schedule, TV channel and FREE live stream

13 minutes ago

How Adrian Newey and Christian Horner can still work together in F1

54 minutes ago

Max Verstappen ban on British journalist angers media as 'walk out' suggestion raised

1 hour ago

F1 News Today: Max Verstappen kicks out journalist as brutal Aston Martin timeline revealed

1 hour ago

F1 2026 Japanese Grand Prix weather forecast - latest from Suzuka

2 hours ago

F1 journalist kicked out by Max Verstappen breaks silence over Japanese Grand Prix storm