P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Lando Norris has expressed that the United States Grand Prix weekend has demonstrated that rival F1 teams are “closer than people think” to McLaren’s pace.
Lando Norris achieved his best lap in his F1 career so far to secure pole position in Austin, beating Max Verstappen. Red Bull was poised to outdo McLaren’s strong performance until George Russell’s crash disrupted the session. McLaren had been seen as the frontrunner, but Red Bull’s rise at the Circuit of the Americas has changed expectations. Norris, trailing Verstappen by 54 points, couldn’t keep up in the Sprint race, losing a place to Carlos Sainz. The recent balance shift remains a mystery to Norris, who believes McLaren’s advantage was overstated. Despite the improvements made by McLaren with the new upgrades on the MCL38, Norris acknowledged that they are facing challenges in speed compared to Red Bull and Ferrari on different parts of the track.
