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Horse Racing “World Champion material” Lando Norris has potential to get pole at Spa
Two successive second place finishes for Lando Norris, a fourth and fifth place finish for Oscar Piastri. McLaren are flying and F1 fans and teams did not see this coming.
The Woking based team are on a roll as they head to Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix and we talked to the team’s first World Champion, Emerson Fittipaldi, about the turnaround.
The Brazilian motorsport icon spoke about the improvements he’s seen from the team and the atmosphere in the McLaren camp.
In this article:
- Hungarian GP showed that McLaren can perform in tight circuits
- ‘World Champion’ material Lando Norris can be on pole At Spa
- Mood in McLaren camp is very positive – their sacrifices are paying off
Hungarian GP showed that McLaren can perform in tight circuits
Fittipaldi shared his observation from the Hungarian GP result, commenting that it showed McLaren’s quick at tight circuits, something that rookie driver Oscar Piastri wanted to test.
“When I was in Goodwood and I was talking to Oscar about the improvements and he said ‘Emerson, at Silverstone we were very fast but let’s see in Hungary where it’s very tight’.”
“But the result shows that they are really performing well even in a smaller track. Budapest everything is tight. There are some fast corners but the other corners are slower on average, than Silverstone.”
“And that was an amazing test for McLaren to show that even on tracks with different characteristics, they were very fast.”
Fittipaldi noticed an improvement in the car’s aerodynamic capabilities and the downforce as well as mechanical improvements.
“To me, there was a big improvement in downforce, aerodynamically, from the outside. And I’m sure they also found some mechanical improvements.”
“It has now put McLaren ahead and the cycle of not performing so well, I think it’s gone. From now on they’ll be extremely competitive and motivated to go to the grands prix.”
‘World Champion’ material Lando Norris can be on pole At Spa
Looking ahead to the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend, Fittipaldi thinks that McLaren and Lando Norris can be on pole but it will be extremely difficult considering how Max Verstappen is performing.
“I think Spa, it is possible for McLaren and Lando to be on pole. I believe they have the potential for that.”
“I know that it’s difficult with the way Max is performing. On race days, however, Max reigns supreme.”
“Spa is fast and McLaren again has to do very well in qualifying like they did in Hungary.”
Fittipaldi also expressed his high opinion of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, calling the former “world champion” material and praising Piastri for performing so well despite the pressure of being a rookie.
“I think for Lando Norris what says everything is that he’s World Champion material.”
“And now with the support from McLaren and the car doing well, he’s world champion material for sure.”
“Oscar is performing very well. There’s tremendous pressure on any driver in F1 and when you just start your F1 career, it is even more.”
“He’s doing extremely well and has a lot of potential. Great potential for sure.”
Mood in McLaren camp is very positive – their sacrifices are paying off
Fittipaldi interacted with the McLaren camp at the Goodwood Festival Of Speed and said that the morale in the camp was very positive after the Silverstone result.
He explained how good results in races pay off the sacrifices that drivers and teams make throughout the year in this sport.
“Good results give enthusiasm to both drivers, Zak Brown, the whole team.”
“When you look at the life of F1 team members, from drivers, to engineers, to the mechanics, to the crew and more, to be a long way from home for so many days, weeks, months, every team gets so motivated when they have good results.”
“They make sacrifices. In my time when we had 16-17 grands prix, it was a big sacrifice for the family, the mechanics. The enthusiasm when your team is performing pays back the sacrifice that everybody makes because it’s not easy.”
