2021 US GP : Post-Friday practice reactions from Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo

McLaren drivers have shown impressive pace during Friday practice session at the Circuit of Americas.

After sub-par quite Turkish GP, McLaren needs better US GP to cement their P3 position in the battle with Ferrari.

In the morning FP1, Lando Norris completed 11 laps with a fastest time of 1:36.855, which was good enough for P8. But he was +1.981s down on session leader Bottas’ fastest time.

Daniel Ricciardo managed to complete 18 laps with a fastest time of 1:37.458, The Australian was down in P16 and he was +2.584s shy of P1 time.

In the afternoon FP2, both McLaren drivers increased their pace. Lando Norris sets second fastest time of the session with lap time of 1:35.203, +0.257s down on Perez’s P1 time. The young Brit managed to complete 20 laps.

Ricciardo managed to complete 21 laps with a fastest time of 1:35.457,+0.511s down on P1 time, which is good enough for P5.

LANDO NORRIS

“A decent Friday. It was warm today, and a bit tricky at times – quite bumpy and windy. So not ideal in terms of driving conditions, but in terms of pace, relative to others, I think we’re in a good position. Tonight we’ll work to try and make it a bit nicer to drive, and a bit easier to have some confidence to push that little bit more come qualifying. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”

DANIEL RICCIARDO

“It was a pretty good day, pretty solid. There are some good signs. Still some work to do, for sure, there’s a few things overnight – but nothing crazy. I think we’ll work through it, a few little set-up changes, but I think we’re in a decent place. We’re obviously competitive, both cars in the top five, so I’ll try to find a few tenths overnight. It’s just good to be back in Texas. The great state that is Texas. I’m Australian by birth, Texan by the good grace of God!”

ANDREA STELLA, Executive Director, Racing

“It’s great to be back at the Circuit of the Americas. It’s a beautiful track layout, very bumpy but that makes the challenge more interesting – finding the right set-up, making the right compromises. It’s an enjoyable place to work and the fans generate a fantastic atmosphere.

Today was pretty normal on track. We know this track is quite aggressive on tyres and so we were focused primarily on understanding tyre behaviour in these unusually warm conditions. We looked okay relative to the midfield battle and tomorrow we’ll hopefully continue to learn and progress, working towards scoring good points on Sunday.”