Lando Norris fastest as Oscar Piastri struggles in practice
He was locked out of his fastest lap and could not come close to Norris’ fastest; Brown noted: “The Oscars aren’t quite set up yet, but it’ll get there.”
Piastri certainly didn’t look worried, displaying his usual cool demeanor as he told reporters: “I’m finding my feet. Obviously, there are some things to try and improve for tomorrow, but after just one session, it’s not that bad.”
“These are just minor details. The car feels like it’s in a pretty good place, but it didn’t manage to control the first soft lap. So of course there were some minor adjustments made for tomorrow. It didn’t feel perfect out there, but it’s not a big deal.”
Norris obviously didn’t want to get too bullish this early in the week, saying: “Obviously, things are looking good at the moment, but I still want a bit more from the car. I’m not completely happy or completely confident.”
“We all know we’re getting a lot closer to qualifying. So there’s nothing to laugh about yet.”
Verstappen grumbled several times about his Red Bull’s Friday tune-up, complaining that “something went wrong with the car” in the morning.
When asked what the main problem areas were, race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase replied: “It’s everywhere now.”
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Mercedes driver George Russell, who could yet play an important role in Sunday’s race, was third fastest in the second practice.
Brown, meanwhile, has revealed that McLaren may enforce team orders in the race and sacrifice its own small title shot if it appears Verstappen can move towards overall victory, after speculation all week that Piastri might be asked to replace Norris.
Brown admitted: “If it turns out as the race progresses that one of our drivers has a much better chance than the other, then we are a team that wants to win the drivers’ championship and we will race accordingly and do everything we can to make sure that driver wins the race.”
He did not say what kind of odds would qualify as “significantly better” but noted that team instructions would only come into effect if “it becomes clear that neither (Norris and Piastri) can win.”
Asked if Piastri would accept any orders to assist Norris, Brown said: “Yes. Our drivers have always followed the team’s wishes, just as we comply with their wishes.”
“I have no doubt that any of our drivers will continue to race with a great performance in the best interest of the team.”
AAP
