Lando Norris, driving for McLaren, secured second place at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, finishing behind his then teammate, Daniel Ricciardo.
Italian Grand Prix
Venue: Monza Dates: 5-7 September Race start: 14:00 BST on Sunday
Coverage: Live commentary of practice and qualifying on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and Sports Extra 2 with race on BBC Radio 5 Live; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app
Lando Norris expressed that the Formula 1 competition was “a bit close for my liking” after achieving the fastest time in Friday practice at the Italian Grand Prix.
Following a retirement in the Dutch Grand Prix the previous weekend, Norris is looking to close the gap to his teammate, Oscar Piastri, in the championship standings. He currently trails Piastri by 34 points with nine races remaining.
Norris’s fastest lap was 0.083 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, followed by Williams’ Carlos Sainz, Piastri, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
The British driver stated, “I just need to make the gap a bit bigger to make things a bit more comfortable.”
Norris and Piastri, among other drivers, experienced moments testing the limits of the Monza circuit, known for its high speeds and rich history.
Norris had a significant slide at the Roggia chicane, while Piastri ran slightly wide at the second Lesmo turn, kicking up gravel.
The most notable incident involved Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, who caused a red flag after spinning at the second Lesmo turn.
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The Monza track presents a different challenge compared to Zandvoort, with its high-speed layout.
Norris commented, “This is the complete opposite downforce to Zandvoort. Zandvoort, we were easily quickest and it felt pretty amazing. Here is quite the opposite.”
He added, “Not a surprise, probably what we were expecting, but we don’t perform quite to the same level in these low-downforce conditions as when we are at high-downforce.”
“The competitors catch up and it looks a bit close and makes our life a bit trickier. But we’re still in a reasonable place.”
Piastri delivered a noteworthy performance despite missing the first practice session, as his car was driven by McLaren protege Alex Dunne.
The Australian driver was only 0.181 seconds slower than Norris, achieving his best time on his second lap with soft tires, despite a minor error on his first attempt.
Piastri stated, “Today has been a good day. Not doing P1, I had a bit of catching up to do in P2. I feel like I hit the ground running.”
He added, “The car felt pretty good. I maybe got the set-up wrong on the softs and the second lap was pretty decent considering it was the second lap on the tyres.”
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During the first practice session, Hamilton led a Ferrari one-two, with Norris finishing sixth, behind Sainz, Verstappen, and Antonelli.
The seven-time champion, who faces a five-place grid penalty, described his first experience driving a Ferrari at Monza as “amazing, just the whole experience.”
He added, “To drive out the garage in a red car is all I ever thought it would be and more.”
“P1 was feeling really strong, P2 much more of a struggle but we made some changes and can go back on them. Better to have that in P2 than P3. I hope tomorrow we can be better.”
“The McLarens are still very fast. It’s not easy to overtake and I’ve got that penalty which is unfortunate but better to have it now than next year.”
Sainz was a surprise, finishing in third place in both sessions.
The Spaniard stated, “In terms of lap time and performance it looks like an encouraging day, we hit the ground running with a good set-up and balance which gave us decent lap times.”
“In terms of confidence, not quite up there, I have been struggling a bit in Turn 11 and Seven to throw the car in and feel at home, the car feels quite different to a Ferrari around here.
“I just need to make sure I feel more comfortable on the first lap on softs.”
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