Lando Norris upbeat after strong practice at Belgium GP despite uncertainty
Autosport • 1 min read • Latest: Jul 17, 2026, 7:02 PM
Last updated Jul 17, 2026
During Friday's practice at Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix, the performance appeared competitive. The top six drivers were closely matched, with nearly a second separating them during soft-tyre qualifying simulations. Lando Norris was close to Kimi Räikkönen's benchmark time, finishing two-tenths behind. Norris expressed a cautious optimism but emphasized the importance of not overestimating their situation before qualifying. The team will look to build on this momentum in the upcoming sessions.
- •Norris finished two-tenths behind championship leader Räikkönen.
- •Top six cars were separated by nearly a second during practice.
- •Norris cautioned against becoming overconfident after practice.
- •Session at Spa-Francorchamps was characterized by close times.
- •McLaren aims to leverage practice performance for qualifying.
- 7:02 PMAutosport — "Not getting ahead of ourselves" - Why Norris was downbeat in Belgium despite F1 practice pace
- 7:00 PMMotorsport.com — "We're not getting ahead of ourselves" - Why Lando Norris was downbeat despite Belgium F1 practice pace
"Practice pace on Friday at Spa-Francorchamps presented a more muddled picture than you would normally expect at what has traditionally been a ‘power' circuit. Nearly a full second separated the top six cars during their soft-tyre qualifying simulations during the second practice session, and only Lando Norris came within two tenths of the benchmark set by championship leader Kimi ...Keep reading
"Practice pace on Friday at Spa-Francorchamps presented a more muddled picture than you would normally expect at what has traditionally been a ‘power' circuit. Nearly a full second separated the top six cars during their soft-tyre qualifying simulations during the second practice session, and only Lando Norris came within two tenths of the benchmark set by championship leader Kimi ...Keep reading
Sources
External links- AutosportJul 17, 2026, 7:02 PM"Not getting ahead of ourselves" - Why Norris was downbeat in Belgium despite F1 practice pace
Practice pace on Friday at Spa-Francorchamps presented a more muddled picture than you would normally expect at what has traditionally been a ‘power' circuit. Nearly a full second separated the top six cars during their soft-tyre qualifying simulations during the second practice session, and only Lando Norris came within two tenths of the benchmark set by championship leader Kimi ...Keep reading
- Motorsport.comJul 17, 2026, 7:00 PM"We're not getting ahead of ourselves" - Why Lando Norris was downbeat despite Belgium F1 practice pace
Practice pace on Friday at Spa-Francorchamps presented a more muddled picture than you would normally expect at what has traditionally been a ‘power' circuit. Nearly a full second separated the top six cars during their soft-tyre qualifying simulations during the second practice session, and only Lando Norris came within two tenths of the benchmark set by championship leader Kimi ...Keep reading
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