SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS (AFP) – A downbeat Lando Norris said he was “not so comfortable” and felt he was unable to “nail it down” in spite of topping the times ahead of McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri in Friday’s practice for the Belgian Grand Prix.

The 24-year-old Briton clocked a best lap in one minute and 42.260 seconds to outpace Piastri by 0.215 seconds round the spectacular 7.004-kilometre circuit in the Ardennes, leaving series leader and three-time world champion Max Verstappen a further 0.002 seconds adrift in his Red Bull.

“It was good if you just look at the timesheets,” he said.

“But it is very close and the Red Bull is very fast… It might look good but I’m not super-comfortable and we have some work to do tonight.”

He said he had “no ideas yet” as to how he could improve his car but added that “we prepared well and we have a good set-up, but I don’t feel I have nailed it down yet.”

When asked if he felt that McLaren should support him more individually in a bid to challenge for the drivers’ title, Norris added that he expected it to become an issue if the team continued their recent success.

“I don’t know when that is,” he said. “Whether I’m 10 points behind Max, or 15 points, at what point do you say ‘can you help out more?’ I don’t know when that point is and that’s not my decision.

“Oscar deserved to win in Hungary. We are only halfway through the season and we still have a hell of a long way to go, so maybe a little bit further down the line but that time is to be decided.

“I still need to earn it. I still need to go out there and drive quicker than everyone. I have had a chance the whole season and we have never had a bias in the team before.”

Piastri claimed his maiden Formula One (F1) victory in Hungary thanks, in part, to Norris obeying team orders to hand back the leading position after he had been given a strategic advantage in the pit-stops.

This left Norris disappointed again, as he had been in several recent races when decisions he or the team made appeared to have cost him a victory.

Verstappen, who will start today’s race with a 10-place grid penalty after Red Bull fitted his car with a fifth new engine, exceeding the season limit of four, said he also wanted to improve his car overnight.

“We tried a few things,” he said. “It is tricky to find the right balance. We have the data and will analyse it.”

He added: “We have to start a few places back because of a penalty for the engine and so we still have to optimise a few things.”

In cooling conditions, with rain threatening, the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were fourth and fifth ahead of George Russell of Mercedes and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, who it was announced earlier will switch to Haas next year.

Kevin Magnussen was eighth in his Haas ahead of Sergio Perez of Red Bull and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the second Mercedes.

“Today wasn’t our best day as the car wasn’t feeling particularly strong,” said Hamilton.

“Free Practice 1 wasn’t great and we worked on some changes for Free Practice 2. That initially improved the balance and it felt good, but once we put the soft tyre on we struggled more.

“It was definitely an improvement overall, but others took a step forward too. We’ve got some time to find overnight. It looks like rain so that may be a help too.”

-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin