Norris admits McLaren are 'too far off the pace' despite sprint podium at Silverstone
Lando Norris believes McLaren faces an uphill battle in Sunday's British Grand Prix after admitting the team is "simply too far off the pace" following another difficult qualifying session at Silverstone.
Despite securing an impressive third-place finish in Saturday's Sprint, McLaren struggled to match the frontrunners over a single lap later in the day.
Norris qualified sixth with a best time of 1:28.877, while teammate Oscar Piastri endured an even tougher session, finishing eighth after battling rear grip issues.
Although pleased with his Sprint performance, Norris acknowledged that McLaren's underlying pace remains a concern.
"It was a challenging Qualifying and, at the moment, we're simply too far off the pace. We seem to be losing a significant amount of time both on the straights and through the corners, which highlights the limitations of our overall package.
"We'll review all the data from every session overnight to build the clearest possible picture, but we know we need to improve and everyone at the factory and track is working incredibly hard to close the gap through our development programme."
Norris' Sprint podium was one of the standout performances of the afternoon, with the Briton making the most of the opportunities available to climb onto the rostrum despite McLaren lacking the outright speed of Mercedes and Ferrari.
However, he remains realistic about what can be achieved in Sunday's Grand Prix, expecting another difficult battle against the teams ahead.
"Looking ahead to tomorrow's race, we have to be realistic. There may be opportunities to challenge the cars immediately ahead, but compared to the front-runners, our overall pace means it's unlikely we'll be fighting at the sharp end.
"That said, I was really pleased with my own performance in the Sprint to finish P3. It felt like a fantastic result given the limitations we have, and we'll be looking to maximise everything that's available to us and extract the most from the car throughout tomorrow's race."
