Norris cleared of Dash penalty, however Ferrari's COTA tempo 'worrying'

Lando Norris prevented a penalty after the Dash however says the efficiency potential that Ferrari has at the US Grand Prix is “worrying.”

The McLaren driver is attempting to shut the hole to Max Verstappen within the drivers’ championship however needed to accept third place behind race-winner Verstappen and Carlos Sainz on Saturday. Each Ferraris almost received previous Norris and he admits the efficiency seen on Friday has translated to date into race tempo that’s more likely to be robust to beat.

“It was nonetheless a tricky race,” Norris mentioned. “The beginning was clearly good, and it gave me fairly a little bit of hope firstly of attaining one thing sturdy, however simply not the tempo as we speak. The entire weekend truly we’ve been fairly a great distance off.

“I don’t suppose we have been stunning in comparison with Max, however the Ferraris have been simply one other degree. They have been fast yesterday; they each simply didn’t get probably the most out of their quali laps, however their potential was worrying.

“So I used to be a bit like, ‘Possibly that’s simply quali and [in] the race they are going to be a bit additional off,’ however they have been simply as fast as we speak. Qualifying we now have issues to work on, and the race we clearly have much more to work on. Not dangerous, however we’re not quickest, and we’re not fast sufficient.”

Norris was below investigation for allegedly driving erratically late within the Dash, each as he misplaced a place to Sainz after which as he defended from Charles Leclerc, however the stewards opted to take no additional motion.

“There didn’t seem like any important adjustments of route below braking, and the transfer at Flip 15 was a legit defending transfer by the driving force of Automobile No. 4,” the stewards’ determination learn. “In Flip 1, Automobile No. 4 locked up below braking and went broad, dropping a place.”

Leclerc acknowledged each the incident and Ferrari’s efficiency after the Dash, believing the staff can look to mount a extra severe problem for victory on Sunday.

“I feel our race tempo was actually sturdy as we speak,” Leclerc mentioned. “We had various combating, which is a part of racing in a Dash race, so it was a really high-adrenaline Dash race. My strategy of attempting to avoid wasting a bit bit extra within the first 5 – 6 laps didn’t repay, and that was it.

“On the finish [I started to push]. We have been very quick, however then there was a DRS prepare in entrance with Carlos having the DRS of Lando, and a detailed name on the final lap with Lando, so all-in-all P4 is the way in which it’s. It’s a Dash race and we’ve discovered quite a bit for tomorrow.”