Lando Norris has labelled the floor update McLaren has brought to the Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix as “not much better” based on his initial practice impression.
McLaren chose to utilise F1’s return to a conventional weekend schedule to introduce the revised floor that it had opted not to sample in the United States a week ago.
READ MORE – McLaren unveils much-anticipated revised F1 floor in Mexico
However, Norris, who missed FP1 as Pato O’Ward drove his MCL38, is the sole recipient of the new part as McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri remains on the old-spec.
Nevertheless, Piastri outpaced Norris in a disrupted second practice session as the Australian ended in second place, three spots above the Briton on the timesheets.
Norris, who resides 57 points behind Max Verstappen with five rounds remaining, was not optimistic about the step that McLaren’s newest development has provided.
“[It’s] good for back-to-back [comparisons], but it’s not really much better,” Norris expressed.
“Oscar was quick today. I think I’m a bit off, so I’ve got some work to do, but we’ll see.”
Norris rues ‘not great’ session in Mexico
But with George Russell’s crash imposing a long stoppage in FP2, Norris has admitted that his opening assessment of the upgrade revolved around limited track time.
However, Norris, who endured a shock Q1 elimination at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez 12 months ago, is convinced that he will be on the pace when it matters.
When asked how his session materialised, Norris responded: “Not great. [A] lack of laps, compared to most others.
“Playing a little bit of catch-up and just not a great feeling. It’s hard to get a good feeling around this circuit, because it’s very low grip.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine, but yeah, not the most comfortable, so a bit of work to do.”
READ MORE – Lando Norris denies need to change ‘whole approach’ to beat Max Verstappen
