Lando Norris has revealed he and McLaren will be at a disadvantage during the United States Grand Prix, following a disastrous sprint race that saw both MCL39s eliminated at the first corner. The incident, which was ultimately ruled a racing incident, also involved Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso and left Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri with none of the setup and tire data the team had hoped to gather from the 19-lap sprint.
Norris emphasized the challenge: “I think quite a bit, honestly. Because we’ve not done — I don’t think I’ve done more than three laps in a row and not more than, like, 40 kilos of fuel… So, I have no idea. We don’t know if it’s going to be amazing or terrible, certainly around here because it’s so difficult with the bumps and the bottoming and the winds.”
Both drivers lost crucial championship points to Max Verstappen, who now starts from pole, with Norris still lining up alongside him for the grand prix. Piastri, after more difficulties in qualifying, will start sixth.
Norris explained that missing the sprint meant missing out on important learning regarding car setup, tire wear, and handling of COTA’s challenging conditions: “We were hoping to learn a lot in the sprint, in terms of how the car set-up was going to be from quali to race and how it changes and the things that are good and bad… But obviously that didn’t go to plan. So, yeah, we’re certainly on the back foot, but I guess we will try not to use that as an excuse.”
He noted McLaren was unable to make valuable “tweaks” for the race and will now go into the 53-lap GP somewhat blind, facing unpredictable conditions with little race-run data.
