The British driver Lando Norris finished second during the second practice session of the Belgian Grand Prix, which took place at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Despite the good result, the McLaren driver remains cautious and warns that the position does not necessarily reflect the car’s real potential.
During this session, the top six drivers were separated by almost a second in their qualifying attempts with soft tires, and Norris managed to improve his time by 1.8 seconds when comparing the first and second practices. However, both he and McLaren’s technical director, Neil Houldey, express doubts about whether this second place is realistic, especially knowing that Norris will face a grid penalty for changes to his engine components.
“The first session wasn’t very good, but in the second I felt a bit better,” Norris said. “I’m still not completely satisfied with the car; it’s complicated to drive, but we seemed a bit more competitive. However, we can’t get too excited. We shouldn’t expect anything different from the norm.”
Challenges at Spa
The McLaren car showed a different management of electrical energy compared to its rivals, especially on the Kemmel straight, where they used less electrical power. Norris highlighted that there is a lack of energy deployment during the straights, affecting his top speed and his ability to fully capitalize on opportunities on the track.
“On every straight we lack deployment. Sometimes we drop from 320 km/h to 270, simply because we don’t have batteries available,” Norris added. This has become a challenge, as the Spa circuit requires a balance between low drag and sufficient aerodynamic load while making use of the new power units of 2026.
Qualifying Prospects
Despite the improvements seen on the track, Houldey commented that they still have work to do to determine the optimal energy deployment strategy. “We have opportunities to adjust energy management for this weekend. We have tried various options and hope to find what works best for the third practice session,” he concluded.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
