Istanbul’s long corners to blame for McLaren’s tough weekend

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The Woking-based team have just completed two of their strongest weekends in recent F1 history, having finished 1-2 in Italy and taken pole and close to a victory for Norris in Russia he two weeks ago.

But the MCL35M was not so competitive around Istanbul Park this weekend, with Norris lined up eighth on the grid and Daniel Ricciardo knocked out of Q1 before suffering an engine penalty and falling to the rear.

While the Turkish track lacks the lower downforce requirement that Monza and Sochi did, Norris doesn’t think the wing levels offer an explanation for why McLaren fell back into the chasing pack this weekend. .

Instead, he feels his car isn’t as comfortable on the kind of long corners that are essential for a good lap.

“I don’t think it has anything to do with downforce,” he said. “I think it’s just the nature of the track, the types of corners you’ve got more aligned here, like it was in Zandvoort, with those longer corners at the top that we’re struggling with.

“I think it was kind of expected so it’s no surprise for us to struggle a bit more. But of course always when you struggle you never want to believe it until you see it. somehow.”

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M

Photo By: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images

Ricciardo felt that the limited nature at the front of the site, which places special emphasis on the right front, was also not ideal for what his McLaren likes.

“The biggest surprise was probably the level of grip, compared to last year, so it was a nice surprise,” he said.

“The track definitely has a more limited nature up front, with a lot of long corners that are very stressful for the front tires, like turn 8 and that.

“So that’s potentially not where we’re strongest either. “

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Reflecting on his own disappointment in Q1, Ricciardo said his problem was not the overall competitiveness of the McLaren package, but more that he couldn’t feel comfortable with the soft tires.

“I just wasn’t fast enough on the soft tires,” he said. “I struggled a bit on Friday, not crazy, but there was still work to be done on it.

“I think obviously we had two sets in Q1, but I still didn’t really feel like I could sink my teeth into it.”

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