Lando Norris expects the Miami Grand Prix to be "tough" for McLaren due to their "shocking" straight-line speed deficit to rival teams. After qualifying in the top seven for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix when he made a gamble on tyre strategy, Norris struggled to keep the much faster Aston Martin of Lance Stroll and Mercedes of George Russell behind during the race. McLaren's car struggles have been characterised by excess drag, leading to poor balance and set-up issues in the first couple of races for both drivers. Norris expects their struggles to keep faster cars in a straight line behind to continue in Miami, which also features a mix of long high-speed straights. "It's tough. Like straight-line speed, we know where we are, but it's still pretty shocking," he told Sky Sports . "Probably Miami will be something similar. But it's a new track, some of the updates we can look into and understand that maybe trying to improve a little bit."
McLaren lacking in corners and straights
Norris says the MCL60 lacks pace in the corners too, making it even more difficult for them to catch up to cars that have pulled away on the straights. He explained: "It's not like we have a lot more downforce in the corners to catch up and then [we're] slow on the straight; we're just the same in the corners and [then] slow on the straights." The Briton scored for the second time this season in Baku after McLaren missed out in the opening two races of the year in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
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