Norris admits McLaren are not in pole contention after troubled Italian GP practice

Lando Norris admitted McLaren are unlikely to challenge for pole position at the Italian Grand Prix after a difficult Friday of practice at Monza, where he finished fourth in FP2 — 0.384 seconds adrift of Mercedes’ George Russell.

The reigning world champion, who arrives at the Temple of Speed seeking a hat-trick of wins following back-to-back victories in Hungary and the Netherlands, was candid about the MCL40’s shortcomings. “Not very decent, just struggling a lot more with pace,” Norris said. “In the corners we expected to be good at, we’re bad. And the corners we expected to be bad at, we’re not so bad at, but we’re still off. So, we’re not in a great place at the minute. We’ll see what we can do overnight.”

Team-mate Oscar Piastri ended FP2 in sixth, and GPS data suggests both McLaren drivers are losing significant time on Monza’s long straights compared to Russell — a deficit that points to a combination of the MCL40’s aerodynamic efficiency and battery deployment strategy. Norris also appears to be losing close to a tenth of a second through the fast Variante Ascari chicane, a section that should suit the car, while paradoxically holding pace with Russell through the slower first and second chicanes.

Ferrari adds to McLaren’s concerns after Charles Leclerc took second in FP2, with the Scuderia running an upgraded power unit and track-specific aerodynamic package at their home race. “It’s going to be tougher than before, for sure,” Norris acknowledged. “It’s close between a lot of the guys at the top. The guys behind are not that far behind either, so they can easily surprise us. I definitely don’t feel we’re in the fight for pole at all. But we just need to focus on getting a decent result.”

One positive from McLaren’s Friday was the debut of their ‘H-Wing’ rotating rear wing, a concept pioneered by Ferrari. Technical director Neil Houldey confirmed the device performed as anticipated. “We’re reasonably pleased with the car’s balance between high- and low-speed sections, though we are around three-tenths off where we want to be,” Houldey said. “The new H-Wing performed well, as we expected following the testing put in at the factory, and we now anticipate it to add performance as we head into the rest of the weekend.”

Houldey added that energy management remains a key area of focus heading into Saturday, suggesting McLaren believe there is lap time to be found through improved harvesting and deployment before qualifying.