Lando Norris has downplayed expectations of a McLaren Formula 1 repeat of Silverstone at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Norris was a surprise second best at the British GP, finishing second in both Qualifying and the race to Max Verstappen in McLaren's best showing of the campaign. The high-speed corners and cool conditions found at Silverstone aided the team who has been historically strong in those areas, with the Budapest circuit this weekend traditionally featuring low-speed and hot weather. It is why Norris does feel a repeat of a challenging Mercedes, Ferrari and Aston Martin for a podium is possible.
Norris downplays hopes
"No matter what the outlook of it all is, we're not very good in the slow speed [corners]," Norris told media including RacingNews365. "We're not terrible and if you fully focus on slow speed, we're not so bad, we're not normally so bad in Monaco, but when you have to start to make compromises, there are much bigger wins for us by performing well in the high speed [corners] than focusing so much on the low speed. "If you look at last year, actually it was not a bad weekend for us with a car that we struggled with in the beginning of the season, so I still want to be hopeful. "But I doubt it is going to be as good as Silverstone, because there's no high speed."
Tracks making us look better
After their fourth place in Austria, both McLaren and Norris were keen to downplay the result owing to the historic strength of both at the Red Bull Ring, with Norris taking two podiums with an average finishing position of 4.4 across his seven visits. Ahead of an expected reality check at the Hungaroring, the Briton felt after the weekend, the team's true progress would become clearer. "I don't think it's still the true test, there's still going to be some tracks that are bad for us," he added. "It is not a bad track for us, just because of the tarmac we have here which is grippy, the corners are quite long, which I would say is not our strength. "But even if you say slow speed, they are not super slow speed [corners], so I think we are going to have bigger tests of like how bad it could get in some of the tracks that are coming up. "It's a god test, mainly because there's no high-speed [corners], I guess maybe Turns 4 and 11 [are] but there's not the biggest difference between cars because it's more of a medium speed corner than high speed. "But it'll be a better test of where we stand - the last few tracks have made us look better than where we stand over the longevity of a whole season."
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