Norris rues ‘pretty bad day’ amid mixed fortunes for McLaren as Piastri tops FP2 in Japan

Lando Norris was left to rue a “pretty bad day” after experiencing technical issues during both of Friday’s practice sessions at the Japanese Grand Prix, with the day bringing mixed fortunes for McLaren amid Oscar Piastri setting the pace in Free Practice 2.

After completing 20 laps in the first practice hour – slightly less than some of his rivals – and placing in third on the timesheets, Norris faced a delayed start to second practice as the team continued to work on his car in the garage.

The Briton eventually joined the session with just under 40 minutes left on the clock, putting him out of sync with much of the pack as he worked through his programme. He ended the hour with a tally of 17 laps, as well as setting the fourth-quickest time while Piastri placed in P1.

When it was put to him after the session that it seemed like the pace was there for both him and Piastri – despite the gremlins on his car – Norris downplayed this as he responded: “The pace is there for Oscar, not for me at the minute.

“A pretty bad day from our side, just not a lot of laps. Not the way you want things to go at the minute, especially because you’re just learning with every lap you can still do and I’m lacking a lot of laps.

“Not the best start, but we’ve got a night off to look at things and try and fix some things for tomorrow.”

Pushed on whether he had gained enough mileage to understand where the fixes need to be made overnight, Norris added: “I got some laps, probably not enough. We’re on the back foot, I just have to try and make the most of it.”

McLaren Racing Director Randy Singh shed further light on the issues that had affected Norris’ car, with the problems leading the team to focus on trying to maximise what was possible.

“We discovered a hydraulic leak during FP1, and then we did everything that we could to identify the source and try and fix it,” Singh explained.

“Unfortunately we weren’t able to do that, so our aim was to try and do the best that we could in that session. The team did a good job to maximise what we could learn in FP2.

“We’re lucky it’s a normal event [rather than a Sprint weekend], so there’s enough running to catch up and stuff. I think we did a good job of maximising what we could learn with the running we had – the runs were a bit shorter. Lando’s pace was pretty good for how little running he did.”

While Piastri ended FP2 on top, Singh does not feel that the pecking order has evolved greatly since the beginning of the season. Asked if the result was promising, he answered: “Yeah, promising for an FP2.

“We were P1 in Australia [during FP2] as well, so I don’t think the pace order has materially changed between Australia and here. We’re doing our best to just get the most out of the car at the moment.

“Obviously we’re always optimistic and hopeful, but we have to be realistic as well.”