McLaren’s Lando Norris before the United States Grand Prix on October 17, 2024. Image source: Reuters
McLaren’s Lando Norris said he was feeling calm and confident on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix and did not expect rivals Red Bull to lose performance following a request for car modifications.
The championship-winning team admitted they had made the changes following talks with the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the sport’s governing body.
Red Bull denies using the device.
“It’s one thing to have it on your car, it’s another thing if you use it,” said Norris, who trails three-time Red Bull world champion Max Weiss with six races remaining. Tappan scored 52 points.
Verstappen will be looking to end an eight-race winless run at Circuit of the Americas on Sunday.
“So if it’s been helping them, if they’ve been utilizing it the way people think it’s been utilized, then maybe it will shift in our direction, but when you’re talking about something like this, they’re not going to use it just because of a device like this. Multiple pole positions or wins,” Norris.
“So I don’t think it’s going to really change the scheme of things – maybe in some qualifying when it’s broken up into hundreds or even thousands of seconds. Then you might say, ‘Okay, okay, Maybe it helps in that or this direction’,” he added.
The story became a hot topic in the Austin paddock, with many observers believing the problem was that a device may have been used to change the ride height of the Parc ferme cars between qualifying and the race.
“While we have not received any indication of teams using such systems, the FIA remains vigilant about our ongoing efforts to improve policing in the sport,” the ruling body said in a statement.
Teams are not allowed to change settings between qualifying and the race.
A Red Bull representative said: “Yes, it exists, although it is not accessible once the car is fully assembled and ready to run. This part came up in our correspondence with the FIA and we have agreed a plan for the future.”
Speaking about F1’s tripleheader this weekend in Texas, Mexico and Brazil, Norris said: “Our expectations now, actually for a while, we are a top team and we are Go for it. It’s still a successful season.
Verstappen made it clear he wasn’t concerned about the issue.
“Let’s see how the upgrades go,” he said, referring to a package designed to improve his and the team’s performance in the championship season, as they trail rival McLaren in the constructors’ title race.
“I’m not worried about anything, I just want to go out and have fun and do as well as I can in the race. There’s a lot of changes, including the track, so we’ll see how it goes.”
Published – October 18, 2024 05:20 AM (IST)