Lando Norris is expecting another close battle at the top at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, despite Charles Leclerc’s claims that Red Bull will have the upper hand.
McLaren has been in contention at every event since Norris won his first Grand Prix in Miami in early May.
The British driver also came close to victory at Imola and in Canada, but was denied by Max Verstappen, who had to give his best to win.
“We’ve been good at all tracks so far, so I don’t expect things to change too much,” Norris said.
“I just expect it to be close with Red Bull, probably a bit more where they should be. Ferrari also, after last weekend, more where they should be.”
“I think we’ve been the most consistent team, ‘right there’. We haven’t been the team that suddenly was the fastest and easily dominated the weekend like we saw Red Bull and Ferrari do it.”
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Lando Norris returns to difficult result after leading the race by 15 seconds only for the safety car to hamper his Canadian Grand Prix
“We haven’t had that absolute strength in some places, but we’ve just been a really good all-around player so far, which over the course of a season is exactly what we want, and that’s a good strength compared to last year when we were very up and down.
“But at no point would I say we were the absolute best throughout a weekend. So that’s something we still have to work on, and we still have to work on having a faster car.”
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Sky Sports’ Craig Slater eyes Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona
Close margins at top
Mercedes were also in the battle for victory last time out in Canada as George Russell took pole position, setting the same time as Verstappen, before a series of errors forced him to settle for third. of the race.
Norris himself was only 0.021 seconds from pole and could have won if not for McLaren’s strategic error in not stopping immediately when the first safety car came out, highlighting F1’s fine margins at the current time.
“With Mercedes joining the forefront and how tight it already was in Canada, whether you’re a tenth better or not is easily because you don’t have the tires in the right window or you’re making a small mistake or the settings are wrong.” not perfect,” Norris continued.
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“Half a tenth, a tenth and you’re down three, four, five positions. I think it’s going to be a close fight between everyone.
“But the main thing is that we have been good everywhere so far and I think we have good confidence, so we continue to do what we do and we can maintain good consistency.”
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a more conventional track that relies more on aerodynamic efficiency, an area Red Bull has been strong in since the introduction of ground effect regulations in 2022.
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Ahead of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, we look back at some of the most dramatic moments from previous races at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
Verstappen, who leads the championship with 56 points ahead of Leclerc and 63 points over Norris, has won the last two Spanish Grands Prix.
As always, he downplays expectations ahead of this weekend, but admits the track layout will help Red Bull.
“Normally it’s a track where our car should be a little more suited. I’m aware that everyone is catching up a lot, but compared to the last races we’ve done it should be a better track,” Verstappen said.
“People are constantly improving and sometimes you have a better weekend than others because of the way you set up the car.”
Leclerc: Red Bull will return to early season form
Ferrari left Canada without any points as Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were eliminated in Q2, before both drivers managed to finish the Grand Prix.
Sainz damaged his car and came into contact with Alex Albon, leading to his retirement, while Leclerc suffered an engine problem.
Leclerc said Ferrari had resolved the reliability issue and confirmed the team had made improvements in Spain.
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Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz were forced to abandon their cars after both suffering separate accidents at the Canadian Grand Prix.
“We will see a stronger Red Bull, and the Red Bull that we saw at the start of the season here in Barcelona,” Leclerc said.
“But I also think the last four races, from Miami to Canada, have been mostly pavement focused, which is not one of Red Bull’s strengths, so I think we will see them again at a good level this week-end.”
“However, we have new parts for the car this weekend and if that helps us to be good here, good for the rest of the season. It will be an interesting weekend and if we are good here, it’s a good sign.” for the rest of the year.”
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Perez already in retreat
Perez also had a dismal Canadian weekend as he was eliminated in Q1 and crashed in the race on his way to a second consecutive DNF.
The Mexican, who signed a new contract to stay with Red Bull next year, limped back to the pit lane with the rear wing of his RB20 dangling after his crash.
As a result, Perez was handed a three-place grid penalty for this Sunday’s race and Red Bull was fined $25,000 (£19,648) for the incident.
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Damon Hill explains what Red Bull can do to further support Sergio Pérez after the Mexican driver suffered crashes in the last two races
This means that Perez will start no higher than fourth, and therefore already faces an uphill battle without having turned a wheel.
“It’s not ideal in a place like this to have a penalty, so we’ll do our best to try to minimize that,” Perez said. Sky Sports F1.
“Qualifying is super important. I have to be up there. There’s no reason why we can’t do it. I think there will be three or four teams fighting for pole on Saturday.”
Sky Spanish GP schedule live from Sports F1
Friday June 21
7:45 a.m.: F1 Academy training sessions
8:50 a.m.: F3 training
10 a.m.: F2 training
12:00 p.m.: First practice for the Spanish GP (session starts at 12:30 p.m.)
1:55 p.m.: F3 qualifying
2:50 p.m.: F2 qualifying
3:35 p.m.: Second practice for the Spanish GP (session starts at 4 p.m.)
5:25 p.m.: F1 Academy qualifying
6:15 p.m.: The F1 Show
Saturday June 22
9:35 a.m.: F3 Sprint
11:15 a.m.: Third practice of the Romagna GP of Spain (session starts at 11:30 a.m.)
1:10 p.m.: F2 Sprint
2:10 p.m.: preparation for qualifying for the Spanish GP
3:00 p.m.: Qualifications for the Spanish GP
5 p.m.: Race 1 of the F1 Academy
Sunday June 23
7:45 a.m.: Race 2 of the F1 Academy
9 a.m.: F3 featured race
10:30 a.m.: F2 featured race
12:30 p.m.: Grand Prix Sunday: preparation for the Spanish GP
2 p.m.: The SPANISH GRAND PRIX
4 p.m.: Checkered flag: reaction from the Spanish GP
Formula 1 returns to Europe as the championship moves to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix and the start of a tripleheader. Watch every session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month subscription – No contracts, cancel anytime
