Lando Norris claims Mercedes is just ‘as quick as McLaren’ in Silverstone after Friday running

McLaren's MCL38 has looked extremely quick around the Silverstone racing circuit.

Lando Norris claims Mercedes is just ‘as quick as McLaren’ in Silverstone after Friday running

George Russell and Lando Norris (Via: Imago)

The 2024 British GP weekend is well underway with Friday’s FP1 and FP2 sessions done and dusted. McLaren has come out as the early pacesetter but despite this, Lando Norris is not getting too excited as he feels Mercedes is also on the same level as them.

The Woking-based team topped both Friday sessions while Mercedes ran a different program and was not seen in the top five. Lewis Hamilton managed a P6 finish in FP2 whereas George Russell was only able to muster up a P10 finish.

YouTube video

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri quite comfortably led the session by ending their outing in first and second place.

FS Video
A good start to the weekend. It wasn’t like the cleanest, or it was cleanest, but didn’t feel that comfortable this morning. I think we’re pretty tight and even with probably Mercedes, they seem probably just as quick as us. They just didn’t turn up the engine and do as much in the final runs. I think we’re in a good place, but we definitely have a little bit more to find.
Lando Norris via PitDebrief

Norris has made it known that McLaren is not taking the Mercedes threat lightly around the 5.8 km Silverstone racing circuit. Moreover, he genuinely feels the Brackley-based team did not show their hand as much as other teams during Friday’s running.

Lando Norris wants to see a ‘dry’ British GP weekend

While Norris is wary of what Mercedes has in store for the upcoming sessions in Silverstone, he also wants to see a dry event. Since the start of the British GP weekend, rain has been expected to play a part in qualifying as well as the main Grand Prix.

Lando Norris
Lando Norris (via IMAGO)

McLaren’s MCL38 has so far looked extremely strong in dry conditions.

I always enjoy both conditions. I would prefer if it was one or the other. Honestly on a home race, you would prefer if it was just dry because we seem like we’re in a good place and I wouldn’t want to go too far away from that. But it’s Silverstone and it’s England. I’m kind of ready for everything, but my preference would probably be to stay dry.
Lando Norris said in the same interview

Lando Norris has been leading his team’s charge from the front during the ongoing season. He had an unfortunate DNF in Austria, but other than that, he has been very solid. Keeping in view everything that has been discussed, the ongoing weekend has all the ingredients to turn out to be a must-see event. Norris will once again be one of the favorites to be fighting for the win during Sunday’s race.

In case you missed it: