Norris and Piastri raise their hands: “P6 and P7 reflect our strength”

McLaren is no longer open A year has passed, but it seems like ten years have passed since the 2025 Austrian GP was dominated by McLaren. The world champions approached the new technical cycle with a lower tone than Mercedes and Ferrari (and this may not be a coincidence, given the championship fight against Max Verstappen until the last GP) and are now paying the consequences of a late improvement. The Papayas finished Austrian GP qualifying with Lando Norris sixth and Oscar Piastri seventh; The team considers this result to be in line with the current level of competitiveness of the MCL40, but represents a step back from the previous day’s expectations. The car did not start in the third quarter, the crucial moment when it was clearly overtaken by Verstappen and the Ferraris. But there is satisfaction in using the single-seater’s full potential in the garage. “Overall it was a good day, a result that reflects our sixth place position. It is easy to look at the free practice times and hope for more, but we know that the cars in front of us are strong, as we have seen throughout the season. Realistically that is where we are now, but we have strengths that we will try to exploit and we are close enough to fight tomorrow,” said Norris. “The race will take place in incredibly high temperatures and, just like in Barcelona, ​​tire wear will be a deciding factor. A lot can happen with strategy and pit stops, but if we can manage the race well and take advantage of every opportunity we can achieve a good result.” “P7 realistically reflects our current situation,” Piastri added. “We’ve done a good job optimizing our package, the lap times between me and Lando throughout the weekend were incredibly close, which shows that we have almost everything we can get out of the car. We lack a bit of pace compared to our closest rivals. We know Mercedes have the advantage and Ferrari are strong, we know the areas we need to improve.”

Automobile Magazine – Formula1 English, News

2026-06-28 04:15:00

Automobile Magazine, 2026-06-28 07:57:00, automobilemagazine.com.tr

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