Norris feels McLaren ‘heading in the right direction’ after topping Barcelona practice

Lando Norris says his session-topping FP2 time in Barcelona is a good sign that McLaren’s recent struggles are over, though Mercedes hinted it’s preparing for hotter race conditions at the expense of single-lap performance.

The defending constructors champion has endured a mixed start to the season, having won the Sprint in Miami and contended for victory in Japan before dropping markedly off the pace in Canada and Monaco.

Last week’s race in Monte Carlo was particularly difficult, with McLaren the only front-running team never in contention for pole. Norris retired with a power unit problem, and Oscar Piastri finished an anonymous fifth.

But the return to a more traditional circuit layout and warmer weather has turned the team’s fortunes around, with Norris nipping George Russell to top spot on Friday by 0.009s. Piastri was third in the order and only 0.048s further back.

“It just seems to be working better than the last few weeks, which is a good sign,” said the reigning world champion. “It’s not an easy track, even though it’s a track I know more than anywhere else.

“It’s quick, obviously very different to the last few tracks we’ve been to in Monaco and Montreal – obviously a lot quicker. You’re playing with the car in a very different regime to where we have been the last few weeks, and it seems to be also just working in a better place than in the last few weeks.

“I think still a good amount of things to improve – it wasn’t like it felt amazing and we were happy – but it’s hot, and I don’t think probably anyone’s going to be that happy out there. It’s difficult with the wind and the conditions.”

McLaren might be happier than others, however, as the team theorized that part of its recent problems was that it was too gentle on its tires for cold-weather Montreal and low-energy Monte Carlo. With forecasts suggesting the mercury will rise to 86 degrees F on race day in Spain, McLaren might find conditions play to the car’s strengths.

“I think we’re up there with the people we want to be with,” Norris continued. “It’s hard to know what fuel loads and power modes other people were on, but I think we’re just happy that we’re heading in the right direction from the last couple of weeks.

“It’s clear that the car is working better. It’s probably not working as good as we want still, and there are still things I’m not happy with and we need to improve, but I think we can’t complain too much considering how the last month has been. We’ll just work hard tonight and see what we can maximize tomorrow.”

However, long-run analysis suggests McLaren hasn’t been able to convert its single-lap pace into sustained performance over a stint in the warm weather, with Mercedes instead appearing to lead the way. Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord suggested his team had an eye on race conditions rather than on maximizing qualifying performance.

“I think it’ll be a qualifying session where everyone is complaining about overheating tires and really just trying to get one lap out of the tires,” he said. “But equally this is a place where race pace counts. We may see multiple stops in the race as well. Getting the setup right for the race is what is most important.”