McLaren’s Lando Norris says his run plan was adapted on Friday in Austria as he struggled physically, though is hopeful of being in better shape for the remainder of the weekend.
Norris finished third last weekend to claim his maiden Formula 1 podium but his Styrian Grand Prix got off to an inauspicious start as he was handed a grid penalty for a yellow flag violation.
Norris finished the second practice session in eighth position, three spots behind McLaren team-mate Carlos Sainz, and completed 14 laps fewer than the Spaniard.
“I’ve been struggling a bit physically with something, I don’t know what, which has been pretty painful and we’ve had to cut down quite a few of the laps that we were planning to do just to make sure I’m in good condition for tomorrow,” said Norris after the session.
“I feel fine now, and walking around, but it’s something that when I’m driving just causes me a lot of pain, particularly in the high-speed corners and when I’m braking.
“I’ve spoken to my specialist and he tried to figure it out but it’s not as obvious as just pointing it out and so on.
“I’ve been on painkillers and whatever but it’s been setting me back a lot today, it’s been pretty frustrating.
“I’ve not felt confident in the car in terms of pushing it and so on, hopefully I can get fixed and be ready for the next one.”
Elaborating further Norris said: “I don’t know where [exactly], in my chest, and yeah I hit the brakes and the compression it spikes up massively so I’m just afraid to brake massively – which is not ideal around here!
“But, yeah, I don’t know what it is, it’s something I have to look into and fix for the race.”
McLaren officially has Mercedes reserve drivers Stoffel Vandoorne and Esteban Gutierrez as its back-up options.
