McLaren have not been the luckiest of teams over the last few rounds, with both FP1 and FP2 sessions at the F1 Mexico City GP proving they have their work cut out for them this weekend. Lando Norris only managed P4 in FP2, two tenths off Verstappen in P1, with Oscar Piastri down in P12, eight tenths off the top.
Norris out of FP1 with Pato O’Ward in
In FP1, Lando Norris did not take part in the session, with Pato O’Ward stepping into his place for one of McLaren’s mandatory rookie driver sessions. Alongside McLaren, eight other teams also ran rookie drivers. Complicating matters, all teams experienced technical issues with their onboard systems, making it more challenging to gather accurate data during the session.
“It was quite nice, yeah. Well, there was no onboard this morning, so there wasn’t a lot to look at,” Norris said after Friday’s sessions. “Of course, you look at the data and things, but you just try and, yeah, get the general understanding of the grip, the feeling of the car, things like that. But, yeah, there’s only so much you can really take from just looking at the screen.”
Returning to the car for FP2
When Norris returned to the car for McLaren in the F1 Mexico City GP FP2 session, midway through he reported experiencing power surges throughout his laps, limiting him to P4. Max Verstappen set the pace, followed by Charles Leclerc in P2 and Kimi Antonelli in P3.
Norris noted that overall, he had got up to speed quickly, despite being out of FP1. However, he acknowledged that there was still work to do overnight, particularly as other teams were expected to make improvements, which could prove the deficit McLaren already have in Mexico City challenging.
“A bit, yeah, I mean, I think we’re in a reasonable place, for sure. I feel like I got up to speed very quickly, actually. I was quite surprised. My first lap was pretty good and second lap was a good step. Yeah, I feel like I found the limit quickly, which is just holding us back a bit. Not that it was a bad day, but normally we’re very good on a Friday and then everyone catches up on Saturday. We’re already a little bit behind, so we have definitely some work to do tonight.”
“They fix them straight away. It’s just the balance of the car is just a bit all over the place. Same as the last few weeks, just single-lap stuff. We’re struggling at the minute, so we’re working hard. We’re trying everything we can, so we’ll see what we can do and see what we can find.”
Championship leaders’ woes in Friday’s sessions
Even though Piastri ran in both FP1 and FP2, his best time placed him over eight tenths behind Verstappen in FP2. He also went wide onto the kerb on one of his flying laps, heavily impacting his time, where he only managed P12, significantly off the pace.
“It was okay. I think yeah, the lap on softs was pretty average, so I’m not surprised with the lap time, but I think yeah, tried a lot of things,” Piastri said in regards to his lap time.
“We’ll go through and have a look at what worked, what didn’t, but overall, I felt reasonable. So, yeah, we’ll see if we can tune up for tomorrow and try and make things just a bit more consistent. I think is the biggest thing.”
Can McLaren challenge Verstappen this weekend?
Following last week’s Austin GP, where Saturday’s Sprint Race eliminated both McLarens and neither could challenge for Sunday’s Grand Prix win, Lando Norris scored only 18 points with his P2 finish, while Oscar Piastri earned 10 points from P5.
Despite Norris closing the gap, Piastri still holds a slender lead in the Drivers’ Championship, just 14 points ahead of his teammate. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen’s recent surge has brought him back into championship contention, now only 40 points behind Piastri.
Carrying some doubts from last weekend, Piastri explained that the team now has an understanding of what went wrong. He added that, while the weekend is expected to be as tight as ever, he feels confident in McLaren’s car following FP2 at the F1 Mexico City GP.
“Yeah, there was a few things that we identified from Austin. I think, you know, obviously it was a pretty messy weekend as well, so yeah, I think plenty of things that we found, you know, all small things, but when you put them all together, they add up. We’ve got a good handle on last week.”
“I think so. Yeah, it’s gonna be tight like always, but I think we’ve got a good car underneath us.”
