Lando Norris disagrees with Damon Hill as Max Verstappen given Austin GP boost

19 October 2023 , 21:07

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Lando Norris offered a pessimistic view of McLaren's chances in Austin (Image: Getty Images)

Lando Norris issued a glum prediction for what the United States Grand Prix might hold for his high-flying McLaren team.

The Woking-based squad is by far and away the most improved on the Formula 1 grid this season. Having began the early rounds with one of the slowest cars on the grid, rapid development has seen McLaren become chief rivals to Red Bull in recent weeks.

Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri come into this weekend's race in Austin after back-to-back double podiums in Japan and Qatar. And the Aussie even got the better of Max Verstappen to win the Sprint last time out.

Speaking ahead of the trip Stateside, Damon Hill declared: "I think Lando has got to win [the Sprint race]. He's due one, isn't he Lando? Sprint, Lando – race is going to be Max," pointing to Red Bull's slight weakness in shorter tyre stints.

He explained: "The thing that is interesting was the weak point, the 'Achilles Heel' if you can call it that at all, with this Red Bull and Max is when drivers are on their flat-out pace. And it seems to be evident that, while their car is particularly good at saving tyres over a long stint, the shorter the race, I think the more vulnerable the Red Bull is."

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But Norris has another reason to believe the Circuit of the Americas might not hold much fortune for his team. He told reporters: "I'm not so confident. There are a lot more slow-speed corners, which is not our strength. That's tough for us.

"If you look at Singapore, obviously we were not bad there, but clearly not as strong as Ferrari. We know that on these types of circuits, Mercedes is going to be strong. Ferrari are going to be strong. Aston Martin, in the past, have been strong here.

"We knew Qatar was going to suit us, with a lot of medium and high-speed corners, but there are fewer of them here. But I'm not saying it will be a bad weekend – we can still fight, but it's going to be a much bigger fight."

Red Bull come into the weekend under a cloud of speculation over alleged infighting between team principal Christian Horner and adviser Helmut Marko. Horner exclusively told Mirror Sport this week that there was no truth to the report, and that was echoed by Verstappen as he was questioned on the subject in Austin.

"I saw that, from the outside, people were trying to basically talk some BS because I think the mood in the team is very good," said the Dutchman.

Daniel Moxon