Lando Norris: “It was good to be back out there”

Lando Norris was feeling positive to be back out on track as Formula 1 returned from its summer break for round fourteen of the season at Spa-Francorchamps.

Norris was nearly three seconds off the pace of Carlos Sainz Jr in Free Practice One, as he completed fifteen laps but had to settle for thirteenth place in the session. However, he turned it around in Free Practice Two with an impressive display, completing seventeen laps and finishing in third place to round off the day.

Norris felt he had a fairly good opening day out on track. After the opening two sessions, he spoke about the new upgrades that have been fitted to his car for this race weekend, and the grid penalties that he has taken meaning he will be starting from the back of the grid on Sunday.

“A reasonable first day back and it was good to get back out there. There are a few different parts on the car this weekend, so I think just understanding those and understanding the lower downforce configuration was good.

“Obviously having the power unit grid penalties this weekend, we were trying to focus more on the race, rather than qualifying. Today was more about optimisation, which hopefully will pay off more come Sunday but overall, a fairly good day.”

Daniel Ricciardo: “There are a few points on track which we can improve on”

Daniel Ricciardo admitted that there are a few things on track which he and the team can improve on as they head into Free Practice Three and Qualifying on Saturday.

There had been a lot of speculation over the summer break as to whether Ricciardo would still be at the McLaren F1 Team come the start of next season, which we now know that he won’t be, leaving Ricciardo’s future in the sport in a position of uncertainty at this current moment.

However, he was able to put on a good display across both Friday practice sessions as he completed fourteen laps in FP1, finishing in seventh place. He also completed eighteen laps in FP2, finishing in in ninth place.

Ricciardo spoke about having a more positive day than planned out on track due to the weather conditions, he admitted that he is still getting used to the car but is in high spirits ahead of qualifying tomorrow.

“It was ok today. We were expecting a wet day and it wasn’t that wet, so we got mostly dry running, so I think it was solid. There are a few points on track which we can improve on, but I think it’s clear where they are. It’s now just trying to optimise the set-up and figure it out as we can go in one of two directions, so we can decide which direction’s best tonight.

“It’s nice to be back on track, it was dark and kind of miserable weather, but yesterday it was beautiful, so hopefully it’s sunny and that it’ll be even cooler for qualifying and the race.”