F1 News

mclaren norris and piastri on belgian grand prix 2023

McLaren jubilant ahead of Spa: 'Good to be back where we belong'

26 July 2023 at 13:41
Last update 26 July 2023 at 16:29
  • Ludo van Denderen

McLaren is in top form. At both Silverstone and the Hungaroring, the English team reached the podium with Lando Norris. That gives McLaren a lot of confidence for the last Grand Prix before the summer break, next weekend at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

Norris, who has a Belgian mother, is looking forward to the race in the country where he has many relatives. Although the McLaren driver is also especially happy with the result in Hungary last week. "Back-to-back podiums! It feels good to be back where we belong, but we still have more work to do to keep it consistent for the rest of the season.

“I’m looking forward to racing in Spa. It’s one of my favourite tracks and it should be a good circuit for us. Of course, it can be challenging depending on the conditions, but we will do our best to finish the first half of the season in a strong position," Norris said.

Piastri: 'Car has been good for us'

His teammate Oscar Piastri is also in fine form, but the Australian Formula 1 debutant is still waiting for his first podium. In Hungary he was on a podium course for a long time, perhaps Spa will offer him better luck: "It’s always good to go racing in Spa, it’s a really great track, and I enjoy a Sprint weekend. The car has been good to us in the last two races, which is positive, but there’s a lot of learning to take into this weekend. I was back in the sim at the MTC this week to make sure we extract all the data. Hopefully, we have another good weekend ahead of the summer break," said Piastri