Excellent signs
Fresh from Lando Norris’ splendid success in Miami, the McLaren was inevitably one of the special observations on this first day of activity on the track in Imola. She was there for confirm the validity of the updates on the English driver’s car and to be installed on Oscar Piastri’s car the latest innovations which in Florida had only been ‘granted’ to his more experienced teammate.
Everything worked perfectly: Piastri set the second best time in FP2, beaten only by Charles Leclerc, and Norris impressed, despite only finishing 12th. The #4 of the papaya team would have easily achieved the best time of the session if he had not committed one blunder on the gravel in the final stretch of the circuit. An off track that partially ‘masked’ the real potential of the MCL38.
The pilots’ reflections
At the end of the day, the two pilots did not make any bombastic statements, confirming their desire to keep a low profile. Between the lines, however, one cannot help but notice a certain thing confidence from a qualifying perspective and – above all – for Sunday’s GP: “It was a positive day, even if there were some hiccups in some places – said Lando Norris – we had a test program with some things to try after the Miami updates. At the same time, we faced a couple of small issues here and there that made completing our plan a little more difficult than we hoped. However, the car went well: we made some good improvements throughout the day and I’m happy with that. If we continue to grow tomorrow, I think we can have a good day.”.
“I think it was one of our best Fridays and it looks like we’re in a pretty good position – Oscar Piastri also confirmed – the track is very narrow, so we’ll see what we can do for tomorrow, but it was an encouraging day. I felt quite comfortable from the first lap this morning, so I’m looking forward to qualifying. The team did a great job making the remaining upgrades to my car, so I thank them“.
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