Lando Norris realistic at the start of his weekend

At Silverstone, McLaren impressed everyone, including Red Bull. With Lando Norris finishing in 2nd place and Oscar Piastri in 4th place, despite being caught behind a safety car, the Woking team scored 30 points and surpassed Alpine in the constructors’ championship. Although far behind Ferrari in terms of points, the British team is asserting itself more and more and gaining momentum. However, the Hungaroring circuit this weekend may be less favorable for them compared to Silverstone, for example, due to its low-speed corners. Lando Norris wants to remain confident despite a track that, on paper, is less suited for the MCL60.

Trust at Norris

Working on the car and making improvements that work and allow us to be on the podium is always enjoyable and encouraging. For Lando Norris, there was a huge gain of confidence at McLaren after this result in Silverstone, but no excess. I think the confidence came from the fact that we took a good step in the right direction. I think that’s when people gain confidence in the fact that we were able to improve the car in these areas, said the driver before continuing: But I don’t think there was any excess of confidence in any way. I hope that’s not the case.

What performance in Hungary?

The evolutions of the McLaren worked perfectly at Silverstone mainly because they were tailored for fast corners. However, on the Hungaroring circuit, it may not be the same story as the drivers will face tight and low-speed turns. « Whichever way you look at it, we are not very good at low speeds, » Lando Norris explained on Thursday.

« When you have to start making compromises, we have a much better chance of winning by being high-speed performers than by focusing on low speed, » he added.

However, there is confidence and the young British driver believes that McLaren can be comfortable in Hungary, even if replicating the performance from Silverstone will be difficult. « If you focus entirely on low speed, we are not that bad. If you look at Monaco, we are normally not too bad there. So I think we are not bad here. If you look at last year, actually, it wasn’t a bad weekend for us with a car that we struggled a lot with at the beginning of the season » explained the McLaren driver.

So there is hope for Norris and his team, but still some lucidity when approaching this race weekend: « I want to keep hope, but I doubt it will be as good as at Silverstone because there is no high speed. »

A test weekend?

Even if Budapest may not perfectly suit the McLaren, it could turn out to be advantageous for the Woking team. This weekend could be a test to better understand other circuits with similar characteristics.

« This will be a good test, mainly because there is no high speed. I guess there might be turn 4 and turn 11. But I feel like there aren’t major differences between the cars because it’s more of a medium speed corner than a high-speed one, » stated Norris.

The British driver continues by explaining that the layout of the Hungaroring will allow his team to have a better overview of their performance, not only on high-speed circuits. « But it will be a better test to see where we stand. I think the last two circuits have allowed us to better position ourselves in relation to our situation over the whole season, » he concluded.

Will McLaren be able to return to the podium? It’s hard to say, as other teams are bringing updates that could work. We will have the first answers starting this Friday.