27/06/2025 19:50
Lando Norris has admitted he "didn't mind" sitting out the first
free practice session at the Austrian Grand Prix, claiming he was
more "relaxed" than he otherwise would have been. The British
driver handed his McLaren to junior driver Alex Dunne for the
opening hour of the weekend at the Red Bull Ring, before taking
back over for FP2. Whilst the 19-year-old impressed, going
fourth-fastest in FP1, just a tenth of a second behind Oscar
Piastri in the other MCL39, Norris topped the second hour of
running. Nonetheless, the six-time grand prix winner enjoyed the
change of pace at the start of his day. "I didn't mind sitting on
the pit wall," the 25-year-old said after FP2. "I felt a lot more
relaxed there than in the car, especially around here. "But you're
right. I've always enjoyed this place. The car felt good from the
off." McLaren was particularly pleased with the feedback Dunne
provided, and Norris agreed, commenting on how his car had been
moved "in the right direction" before he took back over. "Alex
[Dunne] gave good feedback this morning after FP1, and he was on
the pace straight away, so it was good to see," he added. "I think
they moved the car in the right direction for FP2. And we just need
to understand if we want more of that tomorrow, or a little bit
less or somewhere in the middle. "So, yeah, good steps in the right
direction, but still a little bit more to come, hopefully."
Expecting a 'tight' qualifying day However, Norris is still wary of
the threat from behind, highlighting how Max Verstappen and Red
Bull often improve considerably between Friday and Saturday. The
Dutch driver is seeking a sixth victory at his team's home circuit
this weekend and currently trails Norris by 21 points in the
drivers' standings. Piastri leads the championship, another 22
ahead. "We've showed a bit more pace than some of the others, and I
certainly think they're going to catch up - Max [Verstappen] is not
far behind, and they normally improve a lot into Saturday," he
added. "So I hope it's a good day tomorrow, and I'm sure we'll
improve on some things, but it's not as easy as maybe it looked
today. "I think it's still going to be tight tomorrow, it always
is. There's no reason for it not to be, but we'll work hard to make
it as big of a gap as possible."
