Norris expecting tricky outing at Monza

Lando Norris is expecting his free practice outing at Monza to be a bit trickier than his run in Spa. The Formula 2 driver made his free practice debut last Friday, driving Fernando Alonso's McLaren in the opening session of the weekend.

The Briton's fastest lap time was a 1:47.364 which placed him in P18, ahead of the other McLaren of Stoffel Vandoorne. Norris has been heavily linked with a McLaren race seat for 2019, while Toro Rosso has also had interest in the 2017 European F3 champion.

After getting his first taste of a Grand Prix weekend, he will return to the cockpit again on Friday: “I think it’s going to be very different to here [Spa],” Norris said. “Here’s there’s not that many big braking zones, I guess you’ve got Turn 18, Turn 1.

"Apart from that, it’s generally quite long, flowing corners, which you have a bit in Monza but even Monza you have lower downforce than here. So it’s going to be a bit more tricky, but at the same time it’s going to be another good opportunity for me to get comfortable with the car, learn about different things, with a different package, just kind of learn."

After being able to compare to Vandoorne at Spa, Norris is looking forward to being able to compare himself to double-world champion Alonso: “That’s all it is, help myself develop against Fernando, because I’ll be in Stoffel’s car. It’ll be good to compare in some ways against him.

“It’s too difficult on my side to say for next year. It’s not like it’s a yes or a no yet. It’s just trying to do the best job I can in these opportunities that I get to show what I can do, be consistent, have good feedback, be fast, at the same time not make mistakes. It’s an opportunity at max.”

Fergal Walsh