Lando Norris Warns Of "Similar Performance" At Upcoming Miami GP
It was a case of grinding it out for Lando Norris on the Baku circuit of Azerbaijan, as the young Brit secured a P9 finish and two points in what was a largely uninspiring race. Despite this, he admitted that he wished the race was over within 20 laps, echoing the sentiment from fans and teams alike that the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was "boring," according to Mercedes' Toto Wolff.
Looking ahead to the Miami GP, Norris has warned McLaren fans to brace themselves for a similar showing. However, he was hopeful that the team's recent upgrades would help them unlock more from the car and hopefully give them an edge at the next race.
“Long race, like 20 laps in I was hoping that was the end already,” he told Sky Sports F1.
“We were just unlucky, the Safety Car came out a lap after we boxed, so we didn’t really lose out in actual positions, we just lost out to the two cars Hulkenberg and Ocon, but they had to stop still, so probably didn’t make much of a difference.
“But in terms of just going out, I guess maybe I probably would have been in no man’s land if I was ahead of them, because the rest of the guys would have cleared off.
“So in a bit of a race of our own in terms of pace I would say, but a couple of points, best we could have asked for today so I have to be happy with that.”
Miami, like Baku, has a long high-speed section, which will favour low-drag cars such as Aston Martin and Red Bull. With McLaren currently experiencing high levels of drag, Lando isn't feeling too optimistic for next weekend.
“Straight-line speed we’re still pretty shocking, which makes overtaking on a day like today near on impossible,” Norris admitted.
“And it’s not like we have a lot more downforce in the corners to catch up and then slow on the straights, we’re just same in the corners and slow on the straights.
“So it’s a tough battle on days like today and probably Miami will be something similar, but it’s a new track, some of the updates we can look into and understand and maybe try to improve on a little bit, and the updates should work a little bit better there than it did here even.”
At present, Norris is P9 in the Driver Standings after the fourth round of action this 2023 season, while McLaren is now 48 points behind Ferrari who hold P4 in the Constructors' Championship.
While Norris may have found the Azerbaijan race a bit of a slog, the team's continued upgrades will see them fight for more success at the upcoming Miami GP. Fingers crossed for a more exciting and action-packed race in the Sunshine State.