Lando Norris downplays McLaren’s Dutch GP chances: 'Nothing we can do'

Lando Norris has stated there is “nothing we can do” to improve the pace of his McLaren car at Zandvoort this weekend.

Norris was in the mix for sprint pole position on Friday and qualified on the front row of the grid for the shorter race.

However, he struggled for pace throughout the 24-lap outing and slipped behind Charles Leclerc before coming under significant pressure from Kimi Antonelli in the closing laps.

Norris highlighted that the primary weakness stems from the car's performance through slow-speed corners.

“We just don't have the pace in general, especially in the slow-speed corners,” Norris told media including RacingNews365. 

“We struggle so much compared to the others. We saw that the whole weekend so far.

“There's nothing we can do. It's very good in the high speed, and it's just nowhere near good enough for slow speed. 

“So to be able to keep up was very difficult. I can't overpush in the high speed during the race, and therefore we can't optimise our strengths, and more of our weaknesses show.”

When asked if there was something that can be done ahead of qualifying, Norris replied: “No, otherwise we would have done it already.”

Norris entered the round in the Netherlands having prevailed last time out in Hungary, where McLaren won its first race of the year.

However, Norris admitted that the current shortcomings were also a factor at the Hungaroring.

“We knew in Budapest we were very good in high-speed corners, and we were pretty terrible in slow speed, but we still managed to win,” he said.

“Here, there are a lot more very, very slow-speed corners, and more of our problems show. It's not a surprise at all, it's exactly what we expected.”