Norris 'feels bad' for Ferrari after Austria struggles

Lando Norris says he feels bad for Ferrari because its power unit deficit left it facing an uphill battle with tires in the Austrian Grand Prix.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton started second and third respectively at the Red Bull Ring, and Hamilton was within a second of leader George Russell for the early laps of the race. However, with high temperatures affecting tire degradation, Norris – who finished seventh – says he was surprised Ferrari struggled so much but saw why both drivers had to push harder and make an extra pit stop.

“I would say the pace seems to be a little bit better than we probably expect into Sunday,” Norris said. “The shock was probably Ferrari, struggling so much. To be honest, I feel bad for them. When you have no power, you have to push like hell in the corners and you can't do that with these kind of tires. It's a tough race for them.

“But otherwise not a bad race [for McLaren]. I think we still struggle with the balance and it's still incredibly difficult to drive the car, but I expect it's pretty similar to what everyone else felt. We didn't change anything. We still have the same struggles and we just need time still to improve it.”

Norris was also not surprised to see Red Bull make big strides with a major upgrade in Austria, although he believes the track layout may also have helped Max Verstappen fight for victory.

“Maybe for them to be as competitive, but I think you can't be surprised,” he said. “They're still Red Bull, they're still an incredible team and it's not like they were bad before. They still have some very good performances and they finished [third] in Montreal, things like this. It's not like they had a bad car, it's just they struggled in some races.

“This was maybe one that suits them, especially with the very high top speed that they have and good high-speed cornering. So, let’s wait and see a few races, but they did a good job, so hats off to them.”

McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri finished fourth to bounce back from a tough weekend in Barcelona, and says a personal improvement was the most important aspect of his race.

“I think it was a bit of a surprise that the Ferraris were not stronger,” Piastri said. “But on a personal level I thought it was a really good race. Barcelona was a big struggle and I had some things to learn and improve on from there and I feel like this weekend's been a massive improvement from that in a race that in some ways was a bit similar, so overall very happy.”