Norris reveals Monza concern after posting 'qualifying lap'

Sam Hall
Friday 9 September 2022 19:49 - Updated: 19:49

Lando Norris has expressed his concerns at the prospect of facing a difficult Monza weekend following Friday practice ahead of the Italian Grand Prix.

Norris, who was second to team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in last year's race around the 'temple of speed', finished a fine fourth quickest behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen who sandwiched Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and pacesetter Carlos Sainz.

Despite his elevated position in FP2, Norris feels he now has nothing left on the table going into qualifying as he said: "It was a good lap.

"It felt like one of my qualifying laps so I don't feel like I would have a lot more to bring tomorrow.

"We showed decent pace at times and made some good steps from FP1 to FP2. We changed quite a lot of stuff on the car.

"So I don't want to get our hopes up. I feel we're still quite a way off where Alpine are, maybe not on one-lap pace but on the long run we are quite a chunk off.

"Some little positives here and there but as we expected a little bit coming into the weekend, we're not as competitive as we were in Zandvoort and Budapest and maybe a little bit more in line with Spa."

Should Friday's results be echoed in qualifying, Norris would start from second on the grid as both Sainz and Verstappen both have grid penalties.

Asked if McLaren's issues would be more evident in the race than qualifying, Norris added: "I would say so.

"If you look at the cars, I don't know if it's easier or harder to overtake than last year.

"It wasn't easy last year - Max couldn't get past Daniel, Lewis [Hamilton] couldn't get past me. But we were also a lot quicker than we are now."