Norris completed the race in seventh place, which was the same position he began with. However, he faced difficulties with the medium Pirelli tires at the beginning and dropped three positions before making a pit stop on lap five out of 44 to switch to hard tires.
The British driver considered this section of the race to be “awful” because it resulted in him being stuck between defending in the initial sector and being unable to overtake later on in the circuit.
He provided an explanation, stating that the situation was dreadful. It is an honest response. Our team encountered a predicament where we were unable to make sufficient progress in the middle section due to the cars in front of us and the need for other drivers to slow down in Eau Rouge. Consequently, we were significantly slower.
“I was being passed by other drivers prior to entering the DRS zone. Therefore, we needed to attempt a different strategy. We decided to switch to the hard tires, but unfortunately, this choice proved to be even more unfavorable. Throughout the entire weekend, no one had opted for the hard tires.”
“We believed it generally suited our needs, so attempting it was the correct choice in my opinion. However, the outcome was still dreadful. I had insufficient time to warm up the tires and gain the ability to exert force.”
“On my initial lap out of the starting point, I was surpassed by someone else.”
Norris stated that his difficulties with the tires were not related to the downforce levels of the MCL60. He explained that this issue has been a long-standing problem for the team, persisting for five years.
He went on to say: “The way we handle the tires with suspension is not satisfactory. We are not satisfied with the current state of things, particularly in terms of balance. It’s not simply a matter of increasing the car’s load.”
After experiencing a chaotic beginning to the race, Norris admitted that he was unsure of how he was able to make a comeback and finish in seventh place. He expressed that it seemed like he was in last position for the majority of the race.
“Subsequently, we wore the softer tires and experienced a reversal in our fortunes,” he clarified. “I am unsure of how I managed to secure P7. To be honest, I had a constant feeling of being in the last position throughout the race.”
I am somewhat taken aback, to be honest. We simply need to reconsider our approach to the weekend.
“The wing level and stuff like this might work on [this circuit], but it doesn’t work on all of them. And we clearly got it wrong.”
McLaren faced difficulties in fine-tuning their car setup at Spa, as they had been primarily dedicated to enhancing their significant car upgrade package in recent races.
He stated that the main emphasis was on accomplishing that task, which is the appropriate course of action.
However, team principal Andrea Stella brushed aside any correlation between the upgrades and race execution, instead saying that the design office has prioritised improving the overall performance at the expense of developing a low-drag rear wing for Belgium.
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