Lando Norris and McLaren 'not as comfortable as what we would like' despite topping practice in Saudi Arabia

Lando Norris believes that, despite topping practice for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Friday, McLaren’s performance advantage is “not as comfortable as what we would like”.

Norris headed the cooler, more relevant Free Practice 2 evening session at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Friday having finished runner-up in the day’s earlier opening session.

The Drivers’ Championship leader headed team mate Oscar Piastri by 0.163s, with reigning World Champion Max Verstappen a further tenth behind in third.

Despite the impressive pace shown in Jeddah, which continues a strong start to the 2025 campaign for Norris that has yielded one win and a podium at all four Grands Prix so far, the Briton believes his advantage is not as comfortable as it appears this weekend.

JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - APRIL 18: Lando Norris of Great Britain driving the (4) McLaren MCL39 — Norris lead the way in FP2 for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

“I think at the minute we feel confident but the others are not far behind,” he said.

“I was probably hoping for a bigger gap than what we had today. We know we’re fast, we know we have a great car but certainly not comfortable, not as comfortable as what we would like. Nothing more than that, keep our heads down, focus on ourselves and see what we can do.”

Norris enters the Saudi Arabia event off the back of a difficult race in Bahrain, having qualified only sixth before serving a five-second penalty for an out-of-position start and eventually claiming third.

Ahead of this weekend, Norris admitted that he was “being forced to drive in a different way” than he would like with McLaren’s MCL39, and that practice had allowed him to find some answers.

“Always just feels chaotic around here because it’s so fast. A lot of walls, a lot of near-misses,” he added.

“I think today has really been a day of trying to work on my driving, working on myself more than probably trying to work on the car. I think a good start to the weekend, productive, gaining confidence, gaining feeling. So from what I wanted to achieve today I think on the right tracks.”

JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - APRIL 18: Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren and Oscar Piastri of — Norris and Piastri believe more work needs to be done with rivals close behind

Piastri, who trails Norris by three points in the standings, echoed his team mate’s comments that Friday had been a productive day for the team but warned that there are still areas to improve before Saturday’s Qualifying session.

“It was a decent day, I think the pace has been good and it felt reasonably comfortable,” said Piastri, who has taken two wins so far this season.

“There’s been a few corners that I need to try and do a little bit of a better job at tomorrow but all-in-all it felt like a good day. I think the pace has been good, still some things to iron out it’s not been perfect but still feeling good.”