McLaren’s Lando Norris dominated Friday practice in Abu Dhabi, setting the fastest time as his team aims to lock up second place in the championship this weekend.
It was a perfect start for McLaren, with teammate Oscar Piastri making it a 1-2 finish in FP2 at the Yas Marina Circuit.
But Norris isn’t getting too excited just yet.
“The car’s been feeling good the whole day,” he said after practice. “We’ve kept up our pace from Qatar, which is great. But let’s be real – it probably looks better than it actually is.”
McLaren holds a 21-point lead over Ferrari heading into Sunday’s season finale. They haven’t won a constructors’ title since 1998, and now they’re tantalizingly close to finishing runner-up.
Norris seemed pretty relaxed talking to Sky Sports, but he knows there’s still work to do.
“I don’t think the others have turned up their engines yet,” he admitted with a grin. “We’re still going to have a tough fight tomorrow.”
The young Brit says they’re focusing on fine-tuning the car’s performance, especially for the race.
“It’s all about finding that sweet spot – when to push hard and when to save the tires,” Norris explained. “We’re playing around with the settings on my steering wheel and trying to get the perfect balance.”
The real test will come in qualifying, where Ferrari is expected to turn up the heat in their battle for second place.
