Lando Norris laughs off ‘favourite’ tag given by George Russell: "Has he been watching the races?"

Lando Norris reacted with shock to being labelled as one of the pre-race favourites for this weekend’s F1 Japanese Grand Prix. 
Norris laughs off ‘favourite’ tag given by Russell: 'Has he watched the races?'

Mercedes’168澳洲5最新开奖结果: George Russell tipped the McLaren driver to potentially chal𝔉lenge the Red Bulls at the front of the grid at Sꦫuzuka given their MCL60 has been competitive in high-speed corners. 

“Lando’s potentially one of the favourites for this weekend with their high-speed performance in the McLaren. But all ♉the question marks are🌺 on Red Bull,” Russell said on Thursday. 

Informed of Russell’s prediction, Norris, who finished second in Singapore, laughed: “Has he seen the rest of the season at all? Has he been wat☂ching the races?”

Norris finished third-fastest in both practice sessions on Friday and ended the day 0.464s off 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Max Verstappen’s chart-topping FP2 time. 

Asked if he felt good in the car, the Briton𝐆 replied:&♉nbsp; “No, not really. The pace was there. The pace has been pretty good today, probably one of the closest times we’ve been to Red Bull and the front on a Friday. 

Lando Norris (GBR) McLaren MCL60. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 17, Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka, Japan, Practice
Lando Norris (GBR) McLaren MCL60. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 17, Japanese Grand Prix,…

“So it’s encouraging from a pace point of view but the car feels pretty all over the place. I think it probably does for the majority. It’s very low grip, I don’t th꧃ink it’s just us in particular it’s just a handful. 

“If we can just try and calm it ♛down a little bit and get the balance together I think we can have a good day tomorrow. Thꦇe pace is good, just difficult to drive.”

And Norris doubts challenging for pole position will be a real💮istic aim for McLaren 🅷come qualifying. 

“I doubt it’s going to be pole,” he said. “The Red Bulls are just doing normal Red Bulls at🐲 the minute. 

“I think we aren’t far away. I would say we normally get a bit closer when we go to low fuel a♛nd turn the engines up. I think challenging for pole is quite a big task and probablꩵy a bit too far. 

“But we have to try a💎nd challenge Mercedes, the Ferraris and Astons. I think that will be our battle tomorrow.”

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