Lando Norris ‘confident’ but not ‘comfortable’ after FP2 at Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Lando Norris topped the timing sheets in Friday’s second practice session ahead of the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, besting teammate Oscar Piastri by 0.163 seconds. Norris finished P2 during the first practice session earlier in the day, just 0.007 seconds behind Pierre Gasly, but the second session is more representative of what to expect from qualifying and Sunday’s Grand Prix, given the nighttime start.

Speaking after the session Norris admitted that he was “confident,” but by no means “comfortable” given the competitive nature of the field.

“I think at the minute we feel confident but the others are not far behind,” said Norris.

“I was probably hoping for a bigger gap than what we had today. We know we’re fast, we know we have a great car but certainly not comfortable, not as comfortable as what we would like. Nothing more than that, keep our heads down, focus on ourselves and see what we can do.”

Max Verstappen, the reigning Drivers’ champion, finished third during FP2.

“Always just feels chaotic around here because it’s so fast. A lot of walls, a lot of near-misses,” Norris added.

“I think today has really been a day of trying to work on my driving, working on myself more than probably trying to work on the car. I think a good start to the weekend, productive, gaining confidence, gaining feeling. So from what I wanted to achieve today I think on the right tracks.”

For his part, Piastri described the session as “reasonably comfortable,” but noted that he and McLaren have a few things to “iron out” ahead of qualifying.

“It was a decent day, I think the pace has been good and it felt reasonably comfortable,” said Piastri, who has taken two wins so far this season.

“There’s been a few corners that I need to try and do a little bit of a better job at tomorrow but all-in-all it felt like a good day. I think the pace has been good, still some things to iron out it’s not been perfect but still feeling good.”

McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella described Friday as a “positive” first day in Saudi Arabia for the team.

“It’s been a positive first day here in Jeddah, where we were able to complete a number of important test items and establish a reasonable performance baseline,” said Stella in the team’s post-session report. “We completed a good number of laps, enabling the drivers to build confidence, which is particularly important at this high-speed, but technically challenging circuit.

“Having said this, the field seems very tightly packed, and we will need to extract the maximum potential from the car for Qualifying. We have plenty of data to analyze this evening and look forward to getting back on track tomorrow.”