Lando Norris believes McLaren are more likely to fight with AlphaTauri and Alpine this weekend than Red Bull and Ferrari after their showing in practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Woking outfit finished with the fifth and eighth fastest times in FP1. Norris repeated his P8 in the afternoon, however Ricciardo dropped down to 13th as the team appeared to take a step back. The British driver is hoping to reach Q3 in qualifying, though he doesn't expect to be challenging the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari “I think it looks very close between us, AlphaTauri, Renaults [Alpines] and so on,” Norris told Formula1.com. “Ferrari and Red Bull look quite a long way ahead of us, so it’s going to be tough. "Just getting into Q3’s going to be the main target and see what we can do from there. I think we’re looking alright. We were definitely a bit more competitive in FP1 than FP2, so I don’t know if it’s because of the temperatures or the track conditions that we suffered a little bit more in P2." Despite the minor step back, Norris insisted he felt good with his car even though the team aren't quite where they want to be. "Things are good," Norris added. "I think the car feels pretty good. I’m quite confident in the car, just some things to improve. We’re there or thereabouts but not quite where we want to be.”
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