Norris: Spa should be a good circuit for us

Norris secured two consecutive second-place finishes for McLaren at the British Grand Prix and the Hungarian Grand Prix, as he relished the upturn in performance the team has been able to achieve after a major upgrade for their MCL60.

While the Briton warned the MCL60 will not go well around the Hungaroring, his result showed that he was managing expectations, but ahead of the upcoming race at Spa the coming weekend, he isn't playing it safe, confident of his car's performance around the iconic Belgian F1 venue.

Speaking in McLaren's race preview, Norris said: "Back-to-back podiums! It feels good to be back where we belong, but we still have more work to do to keep it consistent for the rest of the season.

"I'm looking forward to racing in Spa," he added. "It's one of my favourite tracks and it should be a good circuit for us. Of course, it can be challenging depending on the conditions, but we will do our best to finish the first half of the season in a strong position."

Norris' teammate Oscar Piastri has been delivering a solid performance for a rookie since his debut in 2023, and was even better when he was handed the upgraded MCL60 back at Silverstone. However he was unlucky to miss out on a podium in Britain from an untimely Safety Car, while in Hungary he was compromised by strategy, while also struggling a bit with tyre management.

"Belgium up next," Piastri said. "It's always good to go racing in Spa, it's a really great track, and I enjoy a Sprint weekend. The car has been good to us in the last two races, which is positive, but there's a lot of learning to take into this weekend.

"I was back in the sim at the MTC this week to make sure we extract all the data. Hopefully, we have another good weekend ahead of the summer break," he concluded.

McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella looked back on Hungary, he said: "Another strong weekend from both drivers in Hungary and a further data point to help us analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the car.

"It's good to be in this position and the team have worked hard to get us here. However, while we can be more optimistic about the rest of our season, we know the other teams won't stand still. Our plans and ambitions remain the same, we continue to push forward with the development of the MCL60 this year, and ultimately aim to be in a position to achieve race wins in the near future," he explained.

"Meanwhile, before the summer shutdown, we head to Belgium," the Italian went on. "Spa is another popular circuit with the drivers. It has a nice mix of long straights and corners at all speeds and can be even more challenging if affected by the weather. It's also a Sprint weekend, which adds to the challenge and the opportunities.

"As always, our team, together with our drivers, remain focused on the task at hand and are ready to give it their all," Stella concluded.

Spa is the place where McLaren won their first ever F1 race back in 1968, courtesy of their late founder Bruce McLaren. They have accumulated 183 grand prix wins since then, and are celebrating their 60th anniversary this year.