“They have been quicker than us all weekend,” Lando Norris ‘fearful’ of Alpine’s charge during Dutch GP

“They have been quicker than us all weekend,” Lando Norris ‘fearful’ of Alpine’s charge during Dutch GP

Lando Norris

Lando Norris has managed a P7-starting slot for the upcoming Dutch Grand Prix but has indicated that he is worried about Alpine’s charge forward during the race.

Lando Norris was struggling to get out of Q1 before putting in a decent lap right at the end, and from then onwards, was able to grow as the sessions progressed. However, the young Brit is himself a bit surprised with his starting position.

YouTube video

McLaren’s direct rival, this year, is the Enstone-based Alpine F1 team, who is starting the upcoming race from P12 and P13 with Esteban and Fernando.

Alpine has been in supreme form in the last few races with both its drivers making Q3 appearances on a regular basis and on top of that, scoring big points regularly as well.

McLaren
McLaren

Moreover, after Spa, the French team is currently ahead of the Woking-based McLaren and has a buffer of 20 points ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix. They have been consistent on and off the track whereas the papaya-colored team has found it difficult to keep pace with them.

Also Read: “I think this was something really special,” David Coulthard extremely impressed by Max Verstappen’s qualifying exploits at Zandvoort

Lando Norris expects Alpine to make up ground to McLaren during the race

McLaren and Alpine
McLaren and Alpine

Lando Norris, who has almost singlehandedly carried the weight of the team this year, feels that Alpine has got a superior package that could become a problem for McLaren during the race.

While referring to Alpine, Norris said, “A good day for us, I mean, I don’t want to get confident because [Alpine] are out of position.” 

“They’ve been quicker than us all weekend, even yesterday we were just in a different performance mode comparing to them, but they have just been quicker all weekend. Yeah, we will see.”

The 21-year-old is keeping his fingers crossed ahead of the Grand Prix as he has blatantly accepted that the two Alpine cars are quicker and can make their way through the grid.

Alpine
Alpine

If this was not enough of a concern, Esteban and Fernando are on an impressive points-scoring streak and are going to everything in order to keep their strong run going.

However, because the Zandvoort circuit is not well known for supporting overtaking, this could play in the favor of Lando Norris and the papaya-colored team.

Also Read: “Both drivers lost track position caused by Sergio’s spin,” Mercedes laments Sergio Perez’ untimely spin for not ending up on front row

Also Read: “It felt reminiscent of times of last year,” Lewis Hamilton opines on his ‘insanely’ tight battle with Max Verstappen during qualifying