Lando Norris said it was clear from the first day of practice for the Italian Grand Prix that McLaren did not have the pace to win.
Although he set the fastest time in practice on Friday, Norris had a narrow gap over the team’s rivals and pointed out Red Bull’s pace over a race stint looked strong.
Max Verstappen beat him to pole position by less than a tenth of a second then pulled away easily from both McLarens in the race. He won by almost 20 seconds.
“We just had no answer,” Norris told the official Formula 1 channel. “We were too slow today, which is disappointing to say. It’s not often this year we’ve needed to or ever could say that.
“But this weekend we just didn’t have the pace and that was clear already on Friday.”
He suspects McLaren will continue to be at a disadvantage at other low-downforce circuits over the rest of the season.
“We have a bit of work to do, especially on these lower downforce circuits, we know that,” he said. “So here, Vegas, [tracks] like that, we’re not the most optimistic. But I think coming away with second was the best I could do today and therefore I have to be happy.”
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Norris took the lead off Verstappen at the start of the race following a close exchange between the pair at the first corner. The McLaren driver took to the grass as he tried to draw alongside his rival, then Verstappen cut across the run-off area at the first corner to keep the McLaren behind.
Verstappen handed the lead to Norris at the start of lap two, then re-passed him soon afterwards. Norris admitted his move on the inside of his rival at the start “would have been cooler if it meant something.”
“In the end, it didn’t mean anything because he was just way faster than us,” he continued. “It’s a shame, I risked a lot for pretty much nothing in the end.
“It was a nice battle, a little bit on the edge but I expect nothing less and I know that’s how tough it’s going to be. It was good fun and I enjoyed it, it was close.
“When he actually got me into turn one, we were both pretty lit on the brakes. I think if there was like a one mile-an-hour tailwind, we both were locking up and going straight, so it was cool, it was good fun.”
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