'We're in a pickle,' says F1 champion Norris of McLaren's British GP hopes

Formula One world champion Lando Norris has painted a grim picture of McLaren's chances at their home Grand Prix, a year after celebrating a memorable one-two finish at Silverstone. Norris qualified sixth for Saturday's race, with teammate Oscar Piastri in eighth, a performance he described as "pretty poor" given the substantial gap to the frontrunners.

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It's pretty poor, really, in terms of gap to the cars ahead.

"We're just slow," Norris stated after the qualifying session. "I thought we improved the car in some areas, but we need to understand like we're just slow in the straight, we're slow in every corner. It's just the car is not very efficient. We lack downforce and we have too much drag. So, yeah, we're in a pickle."

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I thought we improved the car in some areas, but we need to understand like we're just slow in the straight, we're slow in every corner. It's just the car is not very efficient. We lack downforce and we have too much drag. So, yeah, we're in a pickle.

Despite securing third place in the earlier sprint race, Norris downplayed expectations for the main event. He highlighted the track's long straights and high-speed corners as particular weaknesses for the McLaren car. "There's a lot of straights here and just high speed. We're not very good in high speed and we lose a lot in that. And slow speed, like it's just this shows who has a good car and who doesn't. And it's clear that we don't," he explained.

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There's a lot of straights here and just high speed. We're not very good in high speed and we lose a lot in that. And slow speed, like it's just this shows who has a good car and who doesn't. And it's clear that we don't.

Norris admitted surprise at his sprint race result, given the car's apparent pace deficit. He is aiming for a strong start to try and achieve a fifth-place finish, acknowledging that challenging the faster Ferraris and Mercedes is currently unrealistic. The primary goal, he stated, is to try and outperform the Red Bulls, with Isack Hadjar qualifying fifth and Max Verstappen seventh.

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Obviously, what made my race this morning was a good start. I don't know how I finished P3 this morning when you're seven-tenths a lap off... So we have to wait and see. Just try to get a good start, get in the mix. I think realistically, a P5 should be best.