With tough competition threatening to take away their usual pace advantage, the McLaren drivers reflected on the first two practice sessions for the Italian GP.
Coming off the back of an incredibly mixed Dutch GP for the papaya time, with one driver winning and the other a DNF, McLaren will surely be hoping for a strong result for both of their drivers.
Norris happy with progress but looking for more
Norris was only sixth fastest in FP1, though found time and topped the leaderboard at the end of FP2. The British driver shared that although he is glad that he managed to find pace, he is keen to find more tomorrow.
“Not bad, I feel like there’s some small things to improve for us to still be P1. I thought it was good that we improved some stuff from FP1 to FP2. It’s just a bit close, so I just need to try and make the gap a bit bigger so a little bit more comfortable.”
The Italian GP rounds off the first double-header after the Formula 1 summer break. Coming off the back of the Dutch GP, Norris reflected on the differences between the two tracks and using the soft tyres.
“Still trickier than what I would like. This is the complete opposite downforce level to Zandvoort, [in] Zandvoort where we were just easily quickest and it felt pretty amazing. Here’s quite the opposite, so [it’s] not a surprise.
“It’s probably what we were expecting, that kind of thing, but I definitely think we don’t perform quite to the same level in these kind of low downforce conditions as we do when we’re at a high downforce.
Piastri quick to match pace after missing FP1
FP2 was Piastri’s first run in the car this weekend as F2 driver Alex Dunne used his car in the weekend’s first practice session. Despite being a session behind, the Australian was quick to catch up and finished the session fourth fastest.
“Today’s been a good day. Obviously not doing FP1, I had a bit of catching up to do in FP2, but I feel like I hit the ground running and the car felt pretty good.”
The current championship leader finished the session 0.181 seconds behind his teammate. Looking for a reason as to why he was slower, Piastri reflected that his preparation for the soft tyre may be the reason that he did not match Norris.
“Just got the set-up maybe a little bit wrong on the soft [tyre] and the second lap was pretty decent, considering it was a second lap on the tyre. I’m feeling pretty good, I just need to tweak a little bit more tomorrow and find a little bit more pace.”
Piastri was so keen to join the practice session at Monza that he queued up in the pit lane before the session had officially started. Similar incidents have happened earlier this season, notably with both Mercedes drivers in Bahrain and Colapinto at Imola. These drivers received penalties as they happened during qualifying sessions.
Since the conclusion of FP2, Piastri and McLaren only received a reprimand and will not carry a penalty into the Italian GP. The Australian explained his view of the incident as a simple misjudgement.
“I think we just misjudged the… we got confused with the messaging from the timing system and went a little bit early, but that’s all.”
Potential competition for McLaren?
So far this season McLaren have had incredibly success, which they surely hope to continue at the Italian GP. The papaya team have won 12 out of the 15 races so far.
However, the advantage of their fast car may not be as strong this weekend at Monza. The top ten fastest laps at the end of FP2 were separated by less the four tenths of a second. Norris reacted to their competition.
“Normally by this point we have like a one-second gap on everyone! But at the moment it looks just a bit close for my liking at the minute…
“The competitors catch up, it looks a bit closer and it makes our life a bit trickier, but I think we’re still in a reasonable place. Some small things to improve, and we’ll be a bit better.”
Piastri was equally surprised by how close the field was at the end of FP2. He also shared his intrigue on whether the pace of the Williams drivers will translate into a strong qualifying performance.
“A little bit, yes. I think it was also who was in the mix that was a bit of a surprise. The Williams have looked strong in both sessions now, so let’s see if they’re still there tomorrow but, yeah, I think it’s going to be a close weekend.”
