Following his impressive showing at Silverstone, where he effectively transformed his front-row starting position into a commendable second-place result, Norris expected a more challenging experience at the Hungaroring track. He acknowledged after the British Grand Prix that the McLaren’s performance in slow corners was still lacking.
In Hungary, McLaren showed their impressive performance during qualifying. They secured the second row of the grid, with Norris narrowly missing out on pole position by a margin of 0.085 seconds. Additionally, Oscar Piastri achieved a fourth-place starting position.
Norris expressed his surprise at the rewards he received during qualifying, but he mentioned that the Hungaroring has a layout that is more similar to a medium-speed circuit, even though it is known for requiring a lot of downforce.
The author observed that the McLaren might encounter difficulties in certain corners for the remainder of the season. Specifically, they believed that La Source would be a challenging spot where the team’s competitive lap times could be affected.
Norris suggested that the misconception about Budapest being a slow-speed circuit is not accurate. In his opinion, it is more accurately described as a medium-speed circuit since second gear is never utilized throughout the entire track.
We face difficulties when it comes to maintaining a slower speed. Our biggest challenges lie in navigating the chicane, Turn 1, and Turn 12. These sections are where we lose a significant amount of time. However, we are still very close, only trailing by eight hundredths of a second from the pole position.
“I believe it remains evident that we have identified some areas of vulnerability, and these weaknesses will become apparent in specific locations. Even at Spa, we anticipate encountering even greater challenges in certain areas, particularly at Turn 1.”
“I’m already fearful of the first corner at Spa. However, there are numerous other aspects that are clearly advantageous, and if we manage to stay in this position and be less than a tenth of a second behind the pole position.”
“I am feeling joyful as the team is performing exceptionally well. I take immense pride in the progress we have achieved. It is unexpected for me to be in P3, but it is a pleasant surprise, particularly considering Oscar’s position in P4.”
After the Qualifying session, Lando Norris brings his McLaren MCL60 to Parc Ferme.
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Andrea Stella, the team principal of McLaren, backed Norris’ assertions that the Hungaroring circuit was primarily characterized by medium-speed corners. Despite GPS data indicating that McLaren was comparatively slower in the low-speed sections of the track, it compensated for this by excelling in the higher-speed portions of the course.
He mentioned that the car’s recent enhancements had improved its medium-speed performance. However, McLaren is not interested in altering the balance to modify how the car provides additional downforce.
Stella explained that in Hungary, despite referring to it as low-speed, there is also a significant amount of medium-speed elements on the track, making it predominantly dominated by medium speed.
There may be a greater number of medium speed corners in this truck compared to others. Additionally, there are also high-speed corners such as Turn 4 and Turn 11, where speeds can exceed 230km/h (142mph) during qualifying.
This is an intriguing assessment for any vehicle as it reveals its competitive strengths. By examining the GPS overlays, we observe that our car performs exceptionally well in the medium and high-speed sections, as Sector 2 indicates that we may be one of the fastest cars. However, we still struggle in low-speed areas such as Turn 1 and Turn 12, where we lose time.
It is evident that the development has expanded our competitiveness to include not only high-speed but also medium-speed territory, enhancing our understanding of the overall picture.
There is still work to be done regarding low speed. The rationale behind not altering the balance is that the upgrades evenly distribute weight towards both the front and rear ends.
“I cannot reword”
“We haven’t truly accomplished that. We simply enhanced the traction equally on both the front and rear axles while navigating the corner to increase our speed. However, the overall balance remains unchanged.”
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