Lando Norris facing major disadvantage after latest McLaren problems

Lando Norris faces a major disadvantage heading into the Japanese Grand Prix, with his running this weekend having been heavily impacted by further McLaren problems.

Despite minimal running across the practice sessions, the reigning world champion did well to secure fifth on the grid, although he was almost three-tenths slower than Oscar Piastri in third.

Norris entered qualifying with just 50 laps under his belt, having been disrupted by a hydraulic leak in second practice before requiring an ERS replacement in third practice.

The Briton has been affected by some form of technical issue in almost every session this season so far, leaving him once again in a situation where he has had to play catch-up.

He believes his qualifying could have been stronger with more mileage, although the biggest concern is how underprepared he is for the race.

Not a single high-fuel run has been completed by the 26-year-old, meaning he is entering the third round of the season very much in the dark.

Asked if he was still playing catch-up in qualifying, Norris told select media, including RacingNews365: "Yes, I mean, it’s a mix of things. It’s not just that. It’s also about whether I could have tried more things with the set-up, with the car, and understood more.

"It’s also that it’s hard to quantify that amount, but I’ve certainly been playing catch-up the whole weekend and, even for tomorrow, I’ve done no laps on high fuel, no continuous laps.

"So it’s, yeah, certainly luck’s not been on my side so far, but I feel like I was getting better and better in qualifying and understanding how I can push the car more. So it’s been difficult. I’m happy with P5; the gap’s still quite big to the guys ahead.

"So no, it’s not like I’m totally satisfied. I think there are things I should have done better, and I didn’t do well enough. But otherwise, I’m sure with more laps I would have improved."